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Photochemistry and Photophysics of Coordination Compounds

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<strong>Photochemistry</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Photophysics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Coordination</strong> <strong>Compounds</strong>: Rhodium 239<br />

Fig. 11 Energy-level diagram <strong>and</strong> photophysical processes for the “heterotriad” <strong>of</strong> Fig. 10<br />

trochemical cells. When photocurrent action spectra are measured with this<br />

dyad sensitizer, it is seen that light absorption by the Ru(II) chromophore<br />

leads to electron injection into the semiconductor. Furthermore, a detailed<br />

analysis <strong>of</strong> the transient behavior <strong>of</strong> the system indicates that the dyad performs<br />

a stepwise charge injection process, i.e., intramolecular Ru → Rh<br />

electron transfer followed by electron injection from the Rh unit into the<br />

semiconductor (Fig. 10). The first process has comparable rates <strong>and</strong> efficiencies<br />

as for the free dyads in solution. The second step is 40% efficient, because<br />

<strong>of</strong> competing primary recombination (Fig. 11). When the final recombination<br />

between injected electrons <strong>and</strong> oxidized Ru(III) centers is studied, a remarkable<br />

slowing down is obtained relative to st<strong>and</strong>ard systems containing simple<br />

mononuclear sensitizers. Stepwise charge separation <strong>and</strong> slow recombination<br />

between remote sites are distinctive features <strong>of</strong> charge separating triads<br />

(Fig. 9b). Therefore, the system can be considered as a “heterotriad” with the<br />

TiO2 nanocrystal playing the role <strong>of</strong> the terminal electron acceptor [113].<br />

3.4<br />

Photoinduced Electron Collection<br />

Central to the problem <strong>of</strong> light energy conversion into fuels (e.g., solar water<br />

splitting or light-driven carbon dioxide reduction) is the concept that the<br />

fuel-generating reactions are multielectron processes [3]. Progress in this<br />

field is therefore related to the design <strong>of</strong> systems capable <strong>of</strong> performing<br />

photoinduced electron collection [114]. A supramolecular system for photoinduced<br />

electron collection (PEC) can be constructed by coupling components<br />

capable <strong>of</strong> causing photoinduced electron transfer processes with compo-

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