title: Enhanced Charge Separation and FRET at Heterojunctions between Semiconductor Nanoparticles and Conducting Polymer Nanofibers for Efficient Solar Light Harvesting.
abstract: Energy harvesting from solar light employing nanostructured materials offer an economic way to resolve energy and environmental issues. We have developed an efficient light harvesting heterostructure based on poly(diphenylbutadiyne) (PDPB) nanofibers and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) via a solution phase synthetic route. ZnO NPs (~20 nm) were homogeneously loaded onto the PDPB nanofibers as evident from several analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The photoinduced electron transfer from PDPB nanofibers to ZnO NPs has been confirmed by steady state and picosecond-resolved photoluminescence studies. The co-sensitization for multiple photon harvesting (with different energies) at the heterojunction has been achieved via a systematic extension of conjugation from monomeric to polymeric diphenyl butadiyne moiety in the proximity of the ZnO NPs. On the other hand, energy transfer from the surface defects of ZnO NPs (~5 nm) to PDPB nanofibers through Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) confirms the close proximity with molecular resolution. The manifestation of efficient charge separation has been realized with ~5 fold increase in photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in comparison to polymer nanofibers counterpart under visible light irradiation. Our results provide a novel approach for the development of nanoheterojunctions for efficient light harvesting which will be helpful in designing future solar devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical, Biological and Macromolecular Sciences, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 098, India.
authors.forename: Samim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sardar
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical, Biological and Macromolecular Sciences, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 098, India.
authors.forename: Prasenjit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kar
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France.|Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000-CNRS, Bât. 349, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Hynd
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Remita
authors.affiliation: Institute for Condensed Matter Physics, TU Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstraβe 3, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Condensed Matter Physics, TU Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstraβe 3, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.|Laboratory for Emerging Nanometrology, TU Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lemmens
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical, Biological and Macromolecular Sciences, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 098, India.
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar Pal
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical, Biological and Macromolecular Sciences, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 098, India.
authors.forename: Srabanti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghosh
mesh_terms: D000480:Alkynes / Q000737:chemistry; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004579:Electron Transport; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D006801:Humans; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D012666:Semiconductors; D012993:Solar Energy; D055672:Static Electricity; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000480:Alkynes; D011108:Polymers; D015034:Zinc Oxide