TDDFT Modeling of Spin-Orbit Coupling in Ruthenium and Osmium Solar Cell Sensitizers

Ronca, Enrico and De Angelis, Filippo and Fantacci, Simona (2014) TDDFT Modeling of Spin-Orbit Coupling in Ruthenium and Osmium Solar Cell Sensitizers. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C , 118 (30). pp. 17067-17078. ISSN 1932-7447

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Abstract

We report on the relevance of spin-orbit coupling on the optical properties of Ru(II) and Os(II)- polypyridyl dyes effectively employed in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells (DSCs). We include relativistic effects on TDDFT calculations of selected complexes, by using different levels of calculations, i.e. the scalar zero-order regular approximation (ZORA) and the fully relativistic ZORA including spin-orbit coupling, in such a way to disentangle and evaluate the spin-orbit effect. The widely investigated [M(bpy)3]2+ (M=Ru(II) and Os(II)) have been selected as benchmark complexes in our calculations, followed by investigation on “realistic” dyes used in DSCs, such as the prototypical N3 dye, its Os-based analogue and a panchromatic Os(II) dye. We find that in Ru(II) complexes spin-orbit coupling lead to a slight correction of the spectral shape, while only including the spin-orbit coupling we are able to reproduce the low energy absorption bands characteristic of the Os(II) complexes. This study allows us to find a quantitative correlation between the strength of spin-orbit coupling and the metal center, highlighting the secondary effect of the different ligands experienced by the metal center.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, copyright © 2014 American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher.
Subjects: 500 Scienze naturali e Matematica > 540 Chimica e scienze connesse
Depositing User: Francesca Cavazzini
Date Deposited: 10 Sep 2014 11:38
Last Modified: 10 Sep 2014 11:38
URI: http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/id/eprint/9953

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