Collecting up to 115% of Singlet-Fission Products by Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

ACS Nano. 2020 Jul 28;14(7):8875-8886. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c03668. Epub 2020 Jul 13.

Abstract

In this contribution, we focused on integrating a phenylene-bridged dibenzodiazahexacene dimer (o-DAD), which is singlet fission (SF) active, onto single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) as a low-energy sink for energetically low lying excited states that stem from SF. Spectroscopic and microscopic assays assisted in documenting that SWCNT/o-DAD feature high stability in THF as a result of electronic interactions between the individual constituents. For example, statistical Raman analysis underlined n-doping of SWCNTs in the presence of o-DAD. Fluorescence spectroscopy prompted an energy transfer between the individual constituents, a conclusion that was exclusively derived from the quenching of the o-DAD-centered fluorescence. Excitation spectroscopy with a focus on the SWCNT fluorescence confirmed independently this conclusion by showing o-DAD-centered features. Our work was rounded off by time-resolved transient absorption measurements with SWCNT/o-DAD, in which evidence was gathered for the sequential o-DAD-centered SF with an efficiency of 112% followed by a unidirectional energy transfer from o-DAD to SWCNT and a rapid deactivation. The energy transfer efficiency from SF products such as (S1S0)CT and 1(T1T1) exceeded the 100% threshold with values of 115%, which is conventionally found in energy transfer schemes.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes; doping; energy transfer; pyrene-fused azaacenes; singlet fission.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't