Interligand electron transfer determines triplet excited state electron injection in RuN3-sensitized TiO2 films

Electron injection from the transition metal complex Ru(dcbpy)(2)(NCS)(2) (dcbpy = 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylate) into a titanium dioxide nanoparticle film occurs along two pathways. The dominating part of the electron injection proceeds from the initially excited singlet state of the sensitizer into the conduction band of the semiconductor on the sub-hundred-femtosecond time scale. The slower part of the injection occurs from the thermalized triplet excited state on the picosecond time scale in a nonexponential fashion, as was shown in a previous study (Benko, G.; et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 489). Here we show that the slower channel of injection is the result of the excited state being localized on a ligand of the sensitizer that is not attached to the semiconductor; hence, the electron cannot be injected directly from such an excited state into the semiconductor. Before being injected, it has to be transferred from the non-surface-attached ligand to the attached one. The results show that the interligand electron-transfer time is on the picosecond time scale, depends on the relative energies of the two ligands, and controls the electron injection from the excited triplet state of the sensitizer. The findings provide information relevant to the design of molecular-based assemblies and devices.