We drive reversible photoinduced switching of single azobenzene-functionalized molecules isolated in tailored alkanethiolate monolayer matrices on Au{111}. We designed molecular tethers to suppress excited-state quenching from the metal substrate and formed rigid assemblies of single tethered azobenezene molecules in the domains of monolayer to limit steric constraints and tip-induced and stochastic switching effects. Single molecules were reversibly photoisomerized between trans and cis conformations by cycling exposure to visible and UV light. Trans and cis conformations were imaged as high (2.1 +/- 0.3 A) and low (0.7 +/- 0.2 A) protrusions in STM images and were assigned to the on and off states of the molecule, respectively.

A microcantilever, coated with a monolayer of redox-controllable, bistable [3]rotaxane molecules (artificial molecular muscles), undergoes reversible deflections when subjected to alternating oxidizing and reducing electrochemical potentials. The microcantilever devices were prepared by precoating one surface with a gold film and allowing the palindromic [3]rotaxane molecules to adsorb selectively onto one side of the microcantilevers, utilizing thiol-gold chemistry. An electrochemical cell was employed in the experiments, and deflections were monitored both as a function of (i) the scan rate (< or =20 mV s(-1)) and (ii) the time for potential step experiments at oxidizing (>+0.4 V) and reducing (<+0.2 V) potentials. The different directions and magnitudes of the deflections for the microcantilevers, which were coated with artificial molecular muscles, were compared with (i) data from nominally bare microcantilevers precoated with gold and (ii) those coated with two types of control compounds, namely, dumbbell molecules to simulate the redox activity of the palindromic bistable [3]rotaxane molecules and inactive 1-dodecanethiol molecules. The comparisons demonstrate that the artificial molecular muscles are responsible for the deflections, which can be repeated over many cycles. The microcantilevers deflect in one direction following oxidation and in the opposite direction upon reduction. The approximately 550 nm deflections were calculated to be commensurate with forces per molecule of approximately 650 pN. The thermal relaxation that characterizes the device's deflection is consistent with the double bistability associated with the palindromic [3]rotaxane and reflects a metastable contracted state. The use of the cooperative forces generated by these self-assembled, nanometer-scale artificial molecular muscles that are electrically wired to an external power supply constitutes a seminal step toward molecular-machine-based nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS).

Triarylamines are demonstrated as novel, tunable electroactivated photocatalysts that use dispersion precomplexation to harness the full potential of the visible photon (>4.0 V vs. SCE) in anti-Kasha photo(electro)chemical super-oxidations of arenes.

We have directly observed electrochemically driven single-molecule station changes within bistable rotaxane molecules anchored laterally on gold surfaces. These observations were achieved by employing molecular designs that significantly reduced the mobility and enhanced the assembly of molecules in orientations conducive to direct measurement using scanning tunneling microscopy. The results reveal molecular-level details of the station changes of surface-bound bistable rotaxane molecules, correlated with their different redox states. The mechanical motions within these mechanically interlocked molecules are influenced by their interactions with the surface and with neighboring molecules, as well as by the conformations of the dumbbell component.

We present a hollow-core fiber (HCF) based transient absorption experiment, with capabilities beyond common Titanium:Sapphire based setups. By spectral filtering of the HCF spectrum, we provide pump pulses centred at 425 nm with several hundred nJ of pulse energy at the sample position. By employing the red edge of the HCF output for seeding CaF2, we obtain smooth probing spectra in the range between 320 and 900 nm. We demonstrate the capabilities of our experiment by following the ultrafast relaxation dynamics of a radical cationic photocatalyst to prove its pre-association with an arene substrate, a phenomenon that was not detectable previously by steady-state spectroscopic techniques. The detected preassembly rationalizes the successful participation of radical ionic photocatalysts in single electron transfer reactions, a notion that has been subject to controversy in recent years.

Due to desirable optical properties, such as efficient luminescence and large Stokes shift, DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (DNA-AgNCs) have received significant attention over the past decade. Nevertheless, the excited-state dynamics of these systems are poorly understood, as studies of the processes ultimately leading to a fluorescent state are scarce. Here we investigate the early time relaxation dynamics of a 16-atom silver cluster (DNA-Ag16NC) featuring NIR emission in combination with an unusually large Stokes shift of over 5000 cm–1. We follow the photoinduced dynamics of DNA-Ag16NC on time ranges from tens of femtoseconds to nanoseconds using a combination of ultrafast optical spectroscopies, and extract a kinetic model to clarify the physical picture of the photoinduced dynamics. We expect the obtained model to contribute to guiding research efforts toward elucidating the electronic structure and dynamics of these novel objects and their potential applications in fluorescence-based labeling, imaging, and sensing.

Via operando grazing‐incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering, the degradation mechanisms of solid‐state dye‐sensitized solar cells (ssDSSCs) using two types of ordered mesoporous TiO2 scaffolds with different pore sizes, and an exemplary dye D205, are investigated. The temporal evolution of the inner morphology shows a strong impact on device performance. The photoinduced dye aggregation on the TiO2 surface leads to an increase in the domain radius but a decreased spatial order of the photoactive layer during the burn‐in stage. This dye aggregation on the TiO2 surface causes the short‐circuit current density loss, which plays a major role in the power conversion efficiency decay. Finally, it is found that a larger surface area in the small‐pore sample yields a faster short‐circuit current density decay as compared with the big‐pore sample. Therefore, a control of dye aggregation and the pore size of TiO2 photoelectrodes is crucial for the stability of TiO2‐based ssDSSCs.

<p>Electrochemically-mediated Photoredox Catalysis emerged as a powerful synthetic technique in recent years, overcoming fundamental limitations of electrochemistry and photoredox catalysis in the single electron transfer activation of small organic molecules. However, the mechanism of how photoexcited radical ion species with ultrashort (picosecond-order) lifetimes could ever undergo productive photochemistry has eluded synthetic chemists. We report tri(<i>para</i>-substituted)biarylamines as a tunable class of electroactivated photocatalysts that become superoxidants in their photoexcited states, even able to oxidize molecules (such as dichlorobenzene and trifluorotoluene) beyond the solvent window limits of cyclic voltammetry. Furthermore, we demonstrate that precomplexation not only permits the excited state photochemistry of tris(<i>para</i>-substituted)biarylaminium cations, but enables and rationalizes the surprising photochemistry of their <i>higher-order</i> doublet (D<i>_n</i>) excited states.</p>