Electron transfer dynamics of triphenylamine dyes bound to TiO2 nanoparticles from femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy

Interfacial electron transfer between sensitizers and semiconducting nanoparticles is a crucial yet poorly understood process. To address this problem, we have used transient absorption (TA) and femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS) to investigate the photoexcited dynamics of a series of triphenylamine-coumarin dye/TiO2 conjugates. The TA decay is multiexponential, spanning time scales from 100 fs to 100 ps, while the characteristic transient Raman spectrum of the radical cation decays biexponentially with a dominant ∼3 ps component. To explain these observations, we propose a model in which the decay of the TA is due to hot electrons migrating from surface trap states to the conduction band of TiO 2 while the decay of the Raman signature is due to internal conversion of the dye molecule. Furthermore, the S1 Raman spectrum of TPAC3, a dye wherein a vinyl group separates the triphenylamine and coumarin moieties, is similar to the S1 Raman spectrum of trans-stilbene; we conclude that their S1 potential energy surfaces and reactivity are also similar. This correlation suggests that dyes containing vinyl linkers undergo photoisomerization that competes with electron injection. © 2013 American Chemical Society.