No abstract

The flash-photolysis time-resolved microwave conductivity technique (FP-TRMC) has been used to study photoinduced charge separation in bilayers consisting of a smooth, transparent, 80 nm thick layer of anatase TiO 2 onto which poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) sensitizer layers have been spin-coated. Interfacial charge separation, resulting from excitation of the polymer in the visible, is found to persist well into the millisecond time domain. Photoconductivity action spectra have been measured between 420 and 700 nm for P3HT layer thicknesses, L, from ∼2 to 200 nm. Using this electrodeless technique, the bilayers could be irradiated from either the polymer ("front") or semiconductor ("back") side. On front-side irradiation at 540 nm (close to the absorption maximum of the polymer), the efficiency of charge separation per incident photon (IPCSE) initially increased to a maximum value of 0.8% for L ≈ 10 nm. For thicker layers the IPCSE gradually decreased, eventually to 0.1% for L ≈ 170 nm. On back-side irradiation the IPCSE increased over the first 10 nm to a value close to the maximum found for front-side irradiation, and decreased only slightly for further increase in layer thickness. Analytical expressions for the thickness dependence based on exciton diffusion with a Lambert-Beer excitation profile have been used to fit the experimental data. Best fits were obtained for an exciton diffusion length, Λ () (Dτ) with D the diffusion coefficient and τ the natural lifetime), of 5.3 or 2.6 nm depending on whether excitons were taken to be reflected or quenched at the polymer/gas interface, respectively. The IPCSE decreased at high light intensities; an effect that is attributed to the occurrence of exciton-exciton annihilation within the polymer layer.

We describe at the quantum-chemical level the main parameters that control charge transport at the molecular scale in discotic liquid crystals. The focus is on stacks made of triphenylene, hexaazatriphenylene, hexaazatrinaphthylene, and hexabenzocoronene molecules and derivatives thereof. It is found that a subtle interplay between the chemical structure of the molecules and their relative positions within the stacks determines the charge transport properties; the molecular features required to promote high charge mobilities in discotic materials are established on the basis of the calculated structure-property relationships. We predict a significant increase in the charge mobility when going from triphenylene to hexaazatrinaphthylene; this finding has been confirmed by measurements carried out with the pulse-radiolysis time-resolved microwave conductivity technique.