Oral Presentation Royal Australian Chemical Institute National Congress 2026

Ultrafast Singlet Exciton Dissociation in Organic Photo-Catalysts for Hydrogen Generation (141177)

Jessica M de la Perrelle 1 , Harrison J McAfee 1 , Andrew Dolan 1 , Zi Goh 1 , Top Archie Dela Pẽna 2 , Ruijie Ma 3 , Jiaying Wu 2 , David M Huang 1 , Tak W Kee 1
  1. Adelaide University, Adelaide, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Australia
  2. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou
  3. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Hydrogen gas (H2) is an important energy source that is attracting significant attention due to its zero-carbon emission. The current methods of producing H2, however, which are powered by fossil fuels, release a high level of carbon dioxide. A cost-effective and green alternative to current methods is photocatalytic H2 evolution using nanoparticles of organic semiconductors. Typically, this process uses light to generate singlet excitons, which then undergo exciton dissociation at interfaces between electron donor and acceptor materials. The generated charges upon exciton dissociation can migrate to the photocatalyst’s surface to facilitate proton reduction to form H2. We used broadband ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy to study singlet exciton dissociation to form charge carriers with a time resolution of ~10 femtoseconds. Exciton dissociation occurs with time constants ranging from 28 femtoseconds to 149 femtoseconds. Ultrafast exciton dissociation correlates with the morphology of the photocatalyst. The presence of mixed H/J aggregations increases energetic disorder to promote ultrafast exciton dissociation. Our results indicate that exciton dissociation occurs at sufficiently high rates to outcompete most other photophysical processes in the photocatalyst.