The effect of twisted D–D–π–A configuration on electron transfer and photo-physics characteristics

Two D–D–π–A organic dyes (M45, M46) with dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]pyrrole (DTP) units as election donors in two perpendicular directions, were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT. The ground-state geometries, the absorption, the electronic structures, the charge density difference and molecular electrostatic potential were obtained. To simulate a more realistic performance, all calculations were based on gas condition and dichloromethane solvent. Photoelectric parameters were evaluated by the following factors: the light harvesting efficiency, electron injection driving force, the excited lifetime and vertical dipole moment. Meanwhile, the polarisability and hyperpolarisability were investigated to further explain the relationship between non-linear optical properties and efficiency. The direction of the DTP obviously affects the twisted degree of molecule, forming a better coplanarity on the donor 2 of M45, which results in stronger charge transfer interactions. Furthermore, M45 possesses significant advantages in geometric structure, absorption band and intramolecular charge transfer mechanism. These critical parameters supported the higher performance of M45 in comparison with M46. Moreover, four dyes were designed by the substitution of donor 2, which further verify the influence of the twisted donor 2 on electron transfer and photoelectric properties of D–D–π–A configuration.     

Theoretical study of electronic structure and excited states properties of two dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Two conjugated organic dyes comprising the benzo[b]furan moieties as the electron donor and cyanoacetic acid moieties as the electron acceptor/anchoring groups have been investigated using a quantum chemical method. The molecular equilibrium geometries and ground state character were studied using density functional theory. Absorption spectra were obtained using time-dependent density functional theory and semiempirical ZINDO. The nature of absorption spectra was further studied using 2D and 3D real-space analysis; here, 2D real-space analysis showed electron–hole coherence, and 3D real-space analysis showed intramolecular charge transfer during photo-excitation. As important parameters, excited state oxidation potential and driving force energy were obtained to reveal the relationship between molecular structure and performance of two compounds.     

咪唑[4, 5-f] 1, 10-邻菲罗啉及其2-取代芳基衍生物的电子结构与光谱性质

分别采用B3LYP/6-31G(d)和CIS/6-31G(d)方法对咪唑[4, 5-f] 1, 10-邻菲罗啉(ip)及其8种2-取代芳基衍生物的基态(S0)和单重激发态(S1)的几何构型进行了全优化, 并采用含时的度泛函理论(TD-DFT)计算了上述化合物的电子吸收和电子发射光谱. 分析了取代基对咪唑[4, 5-f] 1, 10-邻菲罗啉的电子结构、前线分子轨道、电离势Ip、电子亲和势EA及电子光谱的影响. 计算结果表明, 取代基使8种取代衍生物前线分子轨道(LUMO-HOMO)能隙降低,导致其最大吸收和发射波长均发生了红移. 化合物1～8的跃迁类型均为分子内电荷转移（ICT）跃迁,且1～4和5～8的电子转移方向刚好相反. 溶剂对其电子光谱也有影响, 振子强度增大, 最大发射波长红移. 另外, 8种取代衍生物的电离势降低, 电子亲和势增大, 化合物1~4易于空穴的注入, 5~8易于电子的注入.     

咪唑[4, 5-f] 1, 10-邻菲罗啉及其2-取代芳基衍生物的电子结构与光谱性质

分别采用B3LYP/6-31G(d)和CIS/6-31G(d)方法对咪唑[4, 5-f] 1, 10-邻菲罗啉(ip)及其8种2-取代芳基衍生物的基态(S0)和单重激发态(S1)的几何构型进行了全优化, 并采用含时的度泛函理论(TD-DFT)计算了上述化合物的电子吸收和电子发射光谱. 分析了取代基对咪唑[4, 5-f] 1, 10-邻菲罗啉的电子结构、前线分子轨道、电离势Ip、电子亲和势EA及电子光谱的影响. 计算结果表明, 取代基使8种取代衍生物前线分子轨道(LUMO-HOMO)能隙降低,导致其最大吸收和发射波长均发生了红移. 化合物1～8的跃迁类型均为分子内电荷转移（ICT）跃迁,且1～4和5～8的电子转移方向刚好相反. 溶剂对其电子光谱也有影响, 振子强度增大, 最大发射波长红移. 另外, 8种取代衍生物的电离势降低, 电子亲和势增大, 化合物1~4易于空穴的注入, 5~8易于电子的注入.     

DFT and TD-DFT study on structure and properties of organic dye sensitizer TA-St-CA

The geometry, electronic structure, polarizability and hyperpolarizability of organic dye sensitizer TA-St-CA, which contains a π-conjugated oligo-phenylenevinylene unit with an electron donor–acceptor moiety, was studied using density functional theory (DFT), and the electronic absorption spectrum was investigated via time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) with several hybrid functionals. The calculated geometry indicates that the strong conjugated effects are formed in the dye. The TD-DFT results show that the hybrid functional PBE1PBE and MPW1PW91 are more suitable than B3LYP for calculating electronic absorption spectra. The features of electronic absorption spectra were assigned on account of the qualitative agreement between the experiment and the calculations. The absorption bands in visible and near-UV region are related to photoinduced electron transfer processes, and the diphenylaniline group is major chromophore that contributed to the sensitization, and the interfacial electron transfer are electron injection processes from the excited dyes to the semiconductor conduction band. Compared with the similar dye D5, the good performance of TA-St-CA in dye-sensitized solar cells may be resulted from the higher energy level of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital and the larger oscillator strengths for the most excited states with intramolecular electron transfer character.     

Benzotriazole-based dyes containing a low band gap for dye-sensitised solar cells: a theoretical study

In this study, we investigated a series of metal-free benzotriazole-based organic dyes. The geometries, electronic properties, light harvesting efficiency, and electronic absorption spectra of these dyes were studied using the density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory. The optimised geometries indicate that these dyes are non-planar and thereby effectively inhibit close intermolecular π–π aggregation. The band gap of these dyes ensures a positive effect on the process of electron injection and dye regeneration. The band gap trend corroborates well with the predicted spectra data. Our theoretical calculations reveal that the designed metal-free organic dyes can be used as potential sensitisers for solar cells compared to the best known organic sensitiser (Y123) to date.     

2-取代芳基菲并咪唑类化合物的电子结构和光谱性质的理论研究

运用密度泛函理论,在B3LYP/6-31G(d)水平上对菲并咪唑(PI)及其8种2-取代芳基衍生物的结构进行了全优化,探讨了取代基对分子结构、电离势(I_P)、电子亲和势(E_A)、电荷转移、前线分子轨道能量和电子吸收光谱等方面的影响.采用含时的度泛函理论(TD-DFT)计算了各分子的气相及液相的电子吸收光谱,计算结果与实验值十分接近.并用GaussSum2.1程序模拟吸收光谱和态密度(DOS)图,结果表明,芳基4′-位上取代基对菲并咪唑(PI)和苯环的骨架结构没有很大的扰动,但它们重新调整了菲并咪唑环和苯环中原子电荷分布,前线分子轨道(LUMO)-HOMO)能隙降低,导致8种取代的化合物的吸收波长均发生了红移.     

SF6电子动量谱学研究中干涉效应的观测

利用非共面对称的高效率(e,2e)电子动量谱仪测量了SF₆分子外价分子轨道的二维电子能量- 动量密度谱. 通过理论计算与实验结果的比较,发现B3LYP密度泛函理论计算结果可以较好地解释实验测量的轨道电子动量分布. 此外,对于最外层的4个来自F2p孤对电子贡献的非键分子轨道,实验上观测到非常明显的多中心干涉图样.     

溴氯甲烷分子最高占有轨道的电子动量谱学研究

本文首次报道了溴氯甲烷(CH2BrCl)分子在电子入射能为1200 eV 束缚能时价壳层的电离能谱和最高占有轨道的电子动量分布.实验结果与Hartree-Fock(HF)方法和密度泛函理论(DFT)计算进行了比较,表明大基组的密度泛函理论与实验符合较好.     

桥基取代2,7’-(乙烯基)-二-8-羟基喹啉类化合物的密度泛函理论研究

在B3LYP/6-31G(d)水平上对2,7′-(乙烯基)-二-8-羟基喹啉(2,7′-Ethq_2)及其6种桥基取代物的几何结构进行了全优化,探讨了取代基对分子的结构、电荷转移、前线分子轨道能级、能隙等方面的影响.采用含时的密度泛函理论(TD-DFT)研究各分子的气相及液相中的电子光谱,分析光谱的变化规律.结果表明,取代基的电子效应和立体效应对取代物的电子结构和电子光谱有重要影响,取代基重新调整了2,7′-Ethq_2的原子电荷布居,改变了前线分子轨道能隙,导致吸收光谱发生变化.氨基和氰基对2,7′-Ethq_2影响较为显著,吸收波长红移较大.此外溶剂的极性对其电子光谱也有影响,随溶剂极性的增大,硝基取代物的最大吸收波长发生明显的红移,其它取代物的最大吸收波长均发生较小的蓝移.     

Structure and electronic absorption spectra of isotruxene dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells: Investigation by the DFT, TDDFT, and QTAIM methods

The electronic structure of two photosensitizing isotruxene dyes used in Grätzel photoelectro-chemical cells has been investigated by the quantum-chemical methods of the density functional theory (DFT) and Bader’s topological analysis of the electron density. It has been shown that intramolecular interactions in the dye molecules stabilize the planar relative arrangement of isotruxene and cyano-acrylic structural fragments, which provides π-conjugation over the whole molecular backbone. Based on the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations and analysis of the Kohn-Sham orbitals, it has been found that the first vertical electronic transition in the spectra of the isotruxene dyes is a combination of a poorly resolved lπ*-type excitation and a well-resolved π-π* excitation. The π-π* excitation admixture is associated with the asymmetric structure of the isotruxene fragment and contributes significantly to the intensity of the first electronic transition.     

Merocyanines based on 1,3‐indanedione: electronic structure and solvatochromism

A series of merocyanines derived from 1,3‐indanedione and heterocycles of various electron‐donating properties was studied in detail. Their solvatochromic properties were explored in a wide range of solvent polarities to reveal the dependences of their chromacity and electronic structure on the key structural parameters – the properties of a donor heterocycle and the polymethine chain length. Also the dyes were studied by NMR spectroscopy and by quantum chemical calculations, both with the semiempirical AM1 and the non‐empirical density functional theory/B3LYP method. The solvatochromic properties of the explored dyes are rather close to those of merocyanines derived from malononitrile as acceptor group. Appreciable distinctions were observed only in protic ethanol; obviously, they are connected with the formation of solvent–solute H‐bonds in the case of 1,3‐indanedione derivatives. The electron‐acceptor properties of 1,3‐indanedione were found to be somewhat stronger in comparison with those of malononitrile even in aprotic solvents, contrary to the known literature data. Analysis of the merocyanines' molecular orbitals and simulation of their electronic spectra were carried out both in vacuum and in the solvent matrix, and the absorption electronic transitions were analyzed. Static nonlinear optical properties were calculated for both the new merocyanines and the corresponding cationic and anionic cyanine dyes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electron momentum spectroscopy of the highest occupied molecular orbitals of chlorobromomethane

The first measurement of the complete valence shell binding energy spectra of chlorobromomethane (CH₂ BrCl) is reported by (e, 2e) electron momentum spectrometer using symmetric non-coplanar geometry at an impact energy of 1200 eV plus binding energy. The experimental electron momentum profiles of the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) are extracted and compared with Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. DFT calculation employing B3LYP hybrid functional and the large-sized basis sets provides the best agreement with the experiment.     

A DFT/TD-DFT study of effect of different substituent on ESIPT fluorescence features of 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-4-chloro- methylthiazole derivatives

Based on density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), the effects of substituent on the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process and photophysical properties of 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-4-chloromethylthiazole (HCT) are studied. The electron-donating group (CH₃, OH) and electron-withdrawing group (CF₃, CHO) are introduced to analyze the changes of intramolecular H-bond, the frontier molecular orbitals, the absorption/fluorescence spectra, and the energy barrier of ESIPT process. The calculation results indicate that electron-donating group strengthens the intramolecular H-bond in the S₁ state, and leads to an easier ESIPT process. The electron-withdrawing group weakens the corresponding H-bond and makes ESIPT process a little harder. Different substituents also affect the photophysical properties of HCT. The electron-withdrawing group (CF₃, CHO) has a little effect on electronic spectra. The electron-donating group (CH₃, OH) red-shifts both the absorption and fluorescence emission peaks of HCT, respectively, which causes the Stokes shift to increase.     

Theoretical investigation of the structure and electronic absorption spectrum of a complex zinc bis-[8-(3,5-difluorophenylsulfanylamino)quinolinate]

Using the quantum-chemical methods of the density functional theory DFT/B3LYP/DGDZVP, of the electron density topological analysis QTAIM, and of the time-dependent density functional theory TDDFT/BMK/DGDZVP, we have studied the structure and spectral properties of the electroluminescent complex zinc bis-[8-(3,5-difluorophenylsulfanylamino)quinolinate]. Good agreement of calculation results with experimental data on the electron density topological characteristics and on the absorption spectrum in the visible and UV ranges has been obtained. Based on the analysis of orbitals and wave functions of the TDDFT/BMK/DGDZVP method, we have elucidated the nature of absorption bands of the complex under study.     

四硫富瓦烯类染料敏化剂分子内电子转移特性

染料敏化剂是染料敏化太阳能电池中关键的光电转换材料,其受光激发后,电子由低能级基态跃迁到高能级激发态从而产生有效的电势差。设计和筛选优异性能的染料敏化剂有利于提升其光电转化效率。本文以相关实验研究为背景,设计了一系列具有不同桥位基团的四硫富瓦烯(TTF)类纯有机染料敏化剂,利用密度泛函理论(DFT)和含时密度泛函理论(TD-DFT)对其光电转化及分子内电子转移特性进行了系统研究,通过比较筛选出了高性能的四硫富瓦烯类染料敏化剂。研究结果表明,以环戊联噻吩及其衍生物作为桥位基团的四硫富瓦类染料敏化剂的整体性能更佳,主要表现在较好的电荷分离态、拓宽的光谱吸收范围、提升的光捕获效率以及增强的分子内电子转移(IET)性能等。     

Highly efficient perovskite solar cells by tuning electronic structures of thienothiophene-based as hole transport materials

The atomic substitutions were used to study the hole transport materials (HTM) properties of six thiophenothiophene molecules (HTM1-HTM6) to reveal the relationship between their core structures and photoelectric properties. To better investigate the difference between experimentally original and designed molecules, we calculated the hole mobility and some parameters (such as energy levels, stability, and optical properties, etc). The results showed that the molecular orbital levels of the original and designed molecules have well matched with perovskite and Ag electrode to ensure hole transport and inhibit the electron reflux. Among the designed HTMs, HTM5 has the smallest energy gap that results in the red-shifted absorption spectra. Furthermore, there is an obviously increased charge transfer integral V due to the introduction of the Si atom, which greatly improved the hole mobility. Therefore, atom substitution by introducing Si atoms (HTM5) will improve the energy levels and charge transport ability, and molecular design by means of atom substitution can be a potential way to tunable HTM performance in solar cells.     

Influence of conformation on electron transport properties of oligophenyleneimine molecular wires

We propose molecular wires based on oligophenyleneimine (OPI) sandwiched between two gold electrodes. The electron transport properties of molecular wires attached to side groups are investigated using steady-state theoretical model and density functional theory by using GAUSSIAN 09 software. We investigate the influence of the side group and torsion angle on the electronic properties of molecular wires. We calculate the spatial distribution of the frontier orbitals, energy gap, transmission probability and the current rectifying ratio for OPI, OPI-pyridine, OPI-pyrazine, OPI-thiophene and OPI-thiazole. The transmission spectra change remarkably depending on the type of side group and torsion angle. The current rectifying ratio will increase by increasing the difference between torsion angles depending on the type of side group. That means the OPI-side group can be employed in molecular electronics.     

苯乙烯化苯酚的密度泛函研究

以苯乙烯化苯酚(SP-2)为研究对象,采用密度泛函理论的M06-2X/6-311g(d,p)方法,进行了分子结构优化.在此基础上,对其分子轨道、能级、最高占据轨道(HOMO)和最低空轨道(LUMO)、红外光谱(IR)、核磁共振谱(NMR)、紫外-可见吸收光谱(UV-Vis)进行了模拟计算.根据能级和分子轨道计算结果,主要讨论了苯乙烯化苯酚的最高占据轨道(HOMO)和最低空轨道(LUMO)的特点;获得了红外光谱(IR)、核磁共振谱(NMR)、紫外-可见吸收光谱(UV-Vis)计算结果,并对谱图数据进行了分析讨论.     

外场作用下蒽分子的激发特性研究

蒽(anthracene)具有良好的热稳定性以及较高的荧光量子产率的优点, 是最早用于研究有机发光器件(organic light-emitting device, OLED)的材料之一. 在本文中, 主要利用量子化学方法研究了不同外电场对蒽分子激发特性的影响规律. 首先采用密度泛函理论(density functional theory, DFT)在6-311G(d, p)基组水平上对蒽分子基态结构进行优化, 基于稳定基态结构, 利用含时密度泛函(time-dependent density functional theory, TDDFT)以及同一基组水平, 计算出蒽分子的前十个激发态的激发能、跃迁偶极矩、振子强度和紫外吸收光谱等数据. 然后以密度泛函B3P86方法优化出的不同外电场下蒽分子基态结构为基础, 使用TDDFT方法研究了不同外电场对蒽分子前线轨道能级和激发特性的影响规律. 结果显示, 无场时蒽分子在紫外区域234.50 nm处有一个较强的吸收峰, 对应基态电子跃迁至第5激发态吸收光子波长; 在外电场作用下, 蒽分子电子由基态跃迁到激发态的各项光谱参数均有显著变化, 加场后蒽分子的吸收光谱发生了红移, 由紫外波段移向了紫外–可见光波段, 与实验值相符合. 分子前线轨道的计算结果也表明蒽分子的最高占据轨道(highest occupied molecular orbital, HOMO)和最低未占据轨道(lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, LUMO)能量差值在不同电场下存在差异. 关键词： 蒽 外电场 激发特性