Efficient and stable panchromatic squaraine dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells

A new series of stable, unsymmetrical squaraine near-IR sensitizers (JK-216 and JK-217), which are assembled using both thiophenyl pyrrolyl and indolium groups, exhibit a panchromatic light harvesting up to 780 nm. The JK-216 based cell exhibited a record efficiency of 6.29% for near-IR DSSCs. In addition, the JK-217 device showed an excellent stability under a light soaking test at 60 °C for 1000 h.     

DFT and TD-DFT studies on symmetrical squaraine dyes for nanocrystalline solar cells

Abstract  

The ground-state geometries, electronic structures, and electronic absorption spectra of symmetrical squaraine dyes SQ1–SQ4 were investigated using density functional theory and time-dependent DFT at the B3LYP level. The calculated geometries indicate that strong conjugation effects occur in the dyes. The highest occupied molecular orbital energy levels were calculated to be −4.95, −5.22, −5.09, and −5.06 eV, and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies were −2.72, −3.05, −2.80, and −2.80 eV for SQ1–SQ4, respectively. Taking the conduction band energy of TiO₂ into account, these data reveal the sensitized mechanism: the interfacial electron transfer between the semiconductor TiO₂ electrode and the dye sensitizers SQ1–SQ4 are electron-injection processes from excited dyes to the semiconductor conduction band. The intense calculated absorption bands are assigned to π → π* transitions, which exhibit appreciable blue-shift compared with the experimental absorption maxima due to the inherent approximations in the TD-DFT.     

Squaraine dyes for photodynamic therapy: mechanism of cytotoxicity and DNA damage induced by halogenated squaraine dyes plus light (>600 nm)

Halogenated squaraine dyes 1 and 2 possess favorable photophysical and in vitro photobiological properties that make these new class of molecules interesting for photodynamic therapeutic applications. For a better understanding of the mechanism of their photobiological activity, we have analyzed the DNA damage and the cytotoxicity induced by these photosensitizers in mammalian cells and cell-free systems in the presence and absence of various additives and scavengers. Both photoactivated squaraines were found to be similar efficient in inducing single-strand breaks (SSB) in cell-free DNA when compared with the cellular DNA. Superoxide dismutase and catalase did not show any influence. However, the presence of tert-butanol and glutathione inhibited the formation of the DNA SSB, indicating an indirect (possibly squaraine radical mediated) mechanism under cell-free conditions. Replacing H2O in the buffer by D2O resulted in a five- to six-fold increase in the number of the SSB in cell-free DNA and a significant enhancement of the photocytotoxicity in mouse lymphoma cells. The results demonstrate that singlet oxygen is the major reactive species under cell-free and cellular conditions and confirm that squaraine-based sensitizers 1 and 2 can have potential applications in photodynamic therapy.     

不对称方酸染料的电子结构与光导性的从头算研究

用量子化学从头算法,在RHF/6-31G(d,p)水平上优化了八种不对称方酸染料的分子构型,并对它们的分子内电荷转移程度与暗衰值,光敏值和最大吸收波长的定量关系进行研究,发现不对称方酸染料的分子内电荷转移性质,是影响不对称方酸染料光导性和最大吸收波长的重要因素。     

Adsorption of acid and basic dyes on NiO-SiO2 composites

A series of composites containing 2.5–21.0% NiO on a surface of macroporous silica is synthesized. The specific surface area of the composites measured by the thermal desorption of nitrogen decreases with an increase in the NiO content from 24 for the original silica carrier to 16 m²/g the for composite containing 21.0% NiO. The basic dye, methylene blue (MB), is only adsorbed on SiO₂ in water solutions, while acid blue anthraquinone (ABA) is only adsorbed on the NiO. The effective specific surface area Seff and effective diameters D _eff of NiO nanoparticles are calculated from the adsorption isotherms of ABA on NiO composites and on NiO synthesized without a carrier. S _eff of NiO nanoparticles decreases from 76 to 42 m²/g and D _eff increases from 8 to 14 nm with rising NiO content in the composites. The NiO nanoparticles synthesized without a carrier are characterized by the lowest S _eff (30 m²/g) and the largest D _eff (20 nm).     

Synthesis of water-soluble, ring-substituted squaraine dyes and their evaluation as fluorescent probes and labels

A series of ring-substituted squaraines absorbing and emitting in the red and NIR spectral region was synthesized and their spectral and photophysical properties (quantum yields, fluorescence lifetimes) and photostabilities were measured and compared to Cy5, a commonly used fluorescent label. The absorption maxima in aqueous media were found to be between 628 and 667 nm and the emission maxima are between 642 and 685 nm. Squaraine dyes exhibit high extinction coefficients (163,000–265,000 M⁻¹ cm⁻¹) and lower quantum yields (2–7%) in aqueous buffer but high quantum yields (up to 45%) and long fluorescence lifetimes (up to 3.3 ns) in presence of BSA. Dicyanomethylene- and thio-substituted squaraines exhibit an additional absorption around 400 nm with extinction coefficients between 21,500 and 44,500 M⁻¹ cm⁻¹. These dyes are excitable not only with red but also with blue diode lasers or light emitting diodes. Due to the favourable spectral and photophysical properties these dyes can be used as fluorescent probes and labels for intensity- and fluorescence lifetime-based biomedical applications.     

Medium effects on fluorescence quantum yields and lifetimes for coumarin laser dyes

Fluorescence quantum yields and lifetimes of coumarin dyes are sharply reduced in polar solvents if amine substituent groups are free to rotate. The polar solvent effect is interpreted in terms of relaxation of excited dye from an initial planar conformation to a twisted zwitterionic state.     

Synthesis,electrochemical, and optical properties of low band gap homo‐ and copolymers based on squaraine dyes

A broad series of monomeric and polymeric squaraines was synthesized to investigate the impact of electron‐donating bridges, such as unsaturated triarylamine, carbazole, and saturated piperazine groups, on the spectroscopic and redox properties. These bridges were attached to both standard trans‐indolenine squaraines and dicyanomethylene‐substituted cis‐indolenine squaraines. The conjugates were investigated by absorption, steady‐state, and time‐resolved fluorescence spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. While addition of the donors resulted in significant redshift of the absorption of the model compounds, hardly any further shift or broadening was observed for the copolymers. Also the redox properties remained nearly unchanged compared with the model dyes. In contrast, immense broadening and redshift was observed for homopolymers. This behavior is explained by mostly excitonic coupling of localized squaraine transitions. The increasing distance of the chromophores determined by the bridges led to a decrease of the exciton coupling energy. We also performed semiempirical CNDO/S2 calculations on AM1 optimized structures. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 890–911     

Adsorption and morphology transition of surfactants on hydrophobic surfaces: a lattice Monte Carlo study

In this work, we first show that there are only five independent interchange parameters in the surfactant-solvent-interface system in Larson's model, and then adsorption and morphology transition of surfactants on hydrophobic surfaces are studied by extensive lattice Monte Carlo simulations. In our simulations, we found that there exist six adsorbed morphologies: (1) premature admicelle, (2) hemisphere, (3) hemisphere-hemicylinder mixture, (4) wormlike hemicylinder, (5) perforated monolayer, and (6) monolayer. The surface morphologies and the amount of adsorption on hydrophobic surfaces are found to be affected obviously by two interchange parameters. One is the attractive interaction between tail groups and surface (chiTS), and the other is the solubility of head groups in bulk (chiHW). Phase diagrams in chiHW versus chiTS planes for surfactants with different hydrophobicities (chiTW) and for surfactants with different molecular structures are determined in this work, from which the transitions of surface morphologies and adsorption behaviors are discussed.     

Calorimetric, photometric and lifetime determinations of fluorescence yields of fluorescein dyes

Abstract— The fluorescence yields and lifetimes of fluorescein and nine brominated derivatives in basic ethanol are reported. Calorimetric. photometric, and lifetime methods are used independently to measure the yields. A new and simple calorimetric method is presented for this purpose, and the accuracy of the techniques is assessed. There is good agreement between the calorimetric and photometric results. The importance of parameters such as purity, pH, and fluoresence reabsorption is illustrated. The theoretical determination of the natural radiative lifetime from the absorption spectrum is shown to have inherent ambiguities, so that only calorimetric methods provide a reliable, independent check for photometric yield measurements.     

Electronic Structure of Fullerenelike Molecules Based on TiO2, SnO2, and SnS2

Quantum-chemical modeling of electronic structure and interatomic interaction parameters has been performed for a series of fullerenelike cage molecules based on the isoelectronic TiO₂, SnO₂, and SnS₂. The above characteristics are analyzed in relation to the type of atomic configuration, as well as the size and chemical composition of a nanostructure.     

Fluorescence of dyes adsorbed on highly organized,nanostructured gold surfaces

It is shown that fluorescent dyes can be adsorbed selectively on gold nanoparticles which are immobilized on a glass substrate and that the fluorescence originating from the adsorbed dyes exhibits significantly less quenching when compared to dyes adsorbed on bulk gold. Self-assembled monolayers of lissamine sulfide molecules have been studied both on bulk gold and on glass surfaces bearing gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles have been arranged in ordered, two-dimensional patterns, with periodicity in the microm range and used as substrate for the fluorescent dyes. Optical resolution of the fluorescence originating from the pattern has been achieved with laser-scanning confocal microscopy.     

Adsorption and dissociation of H2O2 on Pt and Pt-alloy clusters and surfaces

The adsorption of H(2)O(2) on Pt and Pt-M alloys, where M is Cr, Co, or Ni, is investigated using density functional theory. Binding energies calculated with a hybrid DFT functional (B3PW91) are in the range of -0.71 to -0.88 eV for H(2)O(2) adsorbed with one of the oxygen atoms on top Pt positions of Pt(3), Pt(2)M, and PtM(2), and enhanced values in the range of -0.81 to -1.09 eV are found on top Ni and Co sites of the Pt(2)M clusters. Adsorption on top sites of Pt(10) yields a weaker binding of -0.48 eV, whereas on periodic Pt(111) and Pt(3)Co(111) surfaces, H(2)O(2) generally dissociates into two OH radicals. On the other hand, attempts to attach H(2)O(2) on bridge sites cause spontaneous dissociation of H(2)O(2) into two adsorbed OH radicals, suggesting that stable adsorptions on bridge sites are not possible for any of the clusters or extended surfaces that are being studied. We also found that the water-H(2)O(2) interaction reduces the strength of the adsorption of H(2)O(2) on these clusters and surfaces.     

Enhanced diradical nature in oxyallyl derivatives leads to near infra red absorption: a comparative study of the squaraine and croconate dyes using computational techniques

We apply many criteria to estimate the diradical character of the ground state singlets of several oxyallyl derivatives. This is carried out as the oxyallyl derivatives like squaraine and croconate dyes can be represented by both mesoionic and diradical formulas, the domination of which would characterize its lowest energy transition. One criterion applied is the singlet-triplet gap, which is known to be inversely proportional to the diradical character. Another criterion is the occupation number; this is determined for the symmetry broken state of the molecules in the unrestricted formalism, and the difference of occupation in the HOMO and LUMO is related to the diradical character. The diradical character of all of the croconates and few squaraines is estimated to be large. All of these have absorption above 750 nm and can be classified as near infrared (NIR) dyes, leading to the inference that NIR absorptions in these molecules are largely due to the dominance of the diradical character. To understand the reliability of the DFT methods for the absorption property predictions of these molecules, TD-DFT studies to calculate the vertical excitation energies have been carried out, using the B3LYP/ BLYP exchange correlation functionals and the LB94 asymptotic functional with and without the inclusion of solvent. The deviations, in both the squaraine series (average lower diradical character), are found to be systematic, and with the inclusion of the solvent in the calculation, the deviations decrease. The best least-squares fit with the experimentally observed values using B3LYP /6-311G(d, p) for the symmetric squaraines yields an R value of 0.92 and, for the unsymmetric squaraines, an R value of 0.936. With inclusion of the solvent, the R value is 0.96 for the symmetric squaraines and 0.961 for the unsymmetric squaraines, indicating that these DFT functionals with linear scaling may be used to study these systems. The croconate dyes, however, have larger deviation from the experimentally observed values in all of the functionals studied even after inclusion of the solvent effects. The deviations are also not systematic. The deviation with respect to the experiment in this case is attributed to the average larger diradical character in this series.     

Substrate-mediated interactions on solid surfaces: theory, experiment, and consequences for thin-film morphology

When two or more atoms bind to a solid surface, the substrate can mediate an interaction between them. In this review, we discuss the origins of this interaction and the theories that describe substrate-mediated interactions, including recent studies with electronic density-functional theory. We summarize the results of experimental studies, in particular those with scanning–tunneling microscopy, aimed at quantifying substrate-mediated interactions. Over the intermediate range, these interactions can be strong enough to influence the ordering of adsorbates at surfaces. We discuss the results of recent studies, employing kinetic Monte Carlo simulations that probe the ramifications of these interactions for the morphology in thin-film epitaxy.     

Adsorption and interaction of ethylene on RuO2(110) surfaces

Ethylene (C2H4) adsorbed on the stoichiometric and oxygen-rich RuO2(110) surfaces, exposing coordinatively unsaturated Ru-cus and O-cus atoms, is investigated by applying high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy and thermal desorption spectroscopy in combination with isotope labeling experiments. On the stoichiometric RuO2(110) surface C2H4 adsorbs and desorbs molecularly. In contrast, on the oxygen-rich RuO2(110) surface ethylene adsorbs molecularly at 85 K and is completely oxidized through interaction with O-cus and O-bridge upon annealing to 500 K. The first couple of reactions are observed at 200 K taking place on Ru-cus: A change from pi- to sigma-bonding, formation of -C=O and -C-O groups, and dehydrogenation giving rise to H2O adsorbed at Ru-cus. Maximum reaction rate is reached for C2H4 chemisorbed at Ru-cus with O-cus neighbors on each side. A model for the first couple of reactions is sketched. For the final combustion, C2H4 reacts both with O-cus and O-bridge. Ethylene oxide is not detected under any circumstance.     

Adsorption behaviors of DPPC/MO aggregates on SiO2 surfaces

The adsorption kinetics of extruded 1,2-dipalmitoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC)/1-(cis-9-octadecenoyl)- rac-glycerol (monoolein, MO) aggregates on SiO 2 surface at 25 degrees C is investigated in real time, using the dissipative quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technique. Four adsorption pathways have been identified depending on the molar fraction of MO in the DPPC/MO system: (I) intact vesicle adsorption, (II) vesicle reorganization on a SiO 2 surface, (III) supported lipid bilayer (SLB) formation, and (IV) cubosome adsorption. The results can be understood by the fact that DPPC is a lamellar phase-forming lipid, whereas MO prefers the cubic phase. Therefore, the incorporation of MO in DPPC increases the packing parameter. Equally important, MO also increases the mobility of lipid molecules and lateral pressure in the bilayers as a result of the presence of a unique cis- double bond. Before extrusion, the vesicles size increases with the MO content when X MO or= 0.8. The extruded DPPC/MO suspensions consist of reformed vesicles for X MO or= 0.8, all with a uniform diameter of approximately 100 nm. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) further indicates that the addition of MO lowers the main phase transition temperature of DPPC and thus makes the hydrophobic interior more fluid.