Tuning the role of charge-transfer states in intramolecular singlet exciton fission through side-group engineering

Steven Lukman, Kai Chen, Justin M. Hodgkiss, David H. P. Turban, Nicholas D. M. Hine, Shaoqiang Dong, Jishan Wu, Neil C. Greenham and Andrew J. Musser ()
Additional contact information
Steven Lukman: Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, University of Cambridge
Kai Chen: MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, and School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington
Justin M. Hodgkiss: MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, and School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington
David H. P. Turban: Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, University of Cambridge
Nicholas D. M. Hine: University of Warwick
Shaoqiang Dong: National University of Singapore
Jishan Wu: National University of Singapore
Neil C. Greenham: Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, University of Cambridge
Andrew J. Musser: Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, University of Cambridge

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Understanding the mechanism of singlet exciton fission, in which a singlet exciton separates into a pair of triplet excitons, is crucial to the development of new chromophores for efficient fission-sensitized solar cells. The challenge of controlling molecular packing and energy levels in the solid state precludes clear determination of the singlet fission pathway. Here, we circumvent this difficulty by utilizing covalent dimers of pentacene with two types of side groups. We report rapid and efficient intramolecular singlet fission in both molecules, in one case via a virtual charge-transfer state and in the other via a distinct charge-transfer intermediate. The singlet fission pathway is governed by the energy gap between singlet and charge-transfer states, which change dynamically with molecular geometry but are primarily set by the side group. These results clearly establish the role of charge-transfer states in singlet fission and highlight the importance of solubilizing groups to optimize excited-state photophysics.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13622 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13622

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13622

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().