Keli Han

Orientation hydrogen-bonding effect on vibronic spectra of isoquinoline in water solvent: Franck-Condon simulation and interpretation

The excited-state orientation hydrogen-bonding dynamics, and vibronic spectra of isoquinoline (IQ) and its cationic form IQc in water have been investigated at the time-dependent density functional theory quantum chemistry level plus Franck-Condon simulation and interpretation. The excited-state orientation hydrogen bond strengthening has been found in IQ:H2O complex due to the charge redistribution upon excitation; this is interpreted by simulated 1:1 mixed absorption spectra of free IQ and IQ:H2O complex having best agreement with experimental results. Conversely, the orientation hydrogen bond in IQc:H2O complex would be strongly weakening in the S1 state and this is interpreted by simulated absorption spectra of free IQc having best agreement with experimental results. By performing Franck-Condon simulation, it reveals that several important vibrational normal modes with frequencies about 1250 cm-1 involving the wagging motion of the hydrogen atoms are very sensitive to the formation of the orientation hydrogen bond for the IQ/IQc:H2O complex and this is confirmed by damped Franck-Condon simulation with free IQ/IQc in water. However, the emission spectra of the IQ and IQc in water have been found differently. Upon the excitation, the simulated fluorescence of IQ in water is dominated by the IQ:H2O complex; thus hydrogen bond between IQ and H2O is much easier to form in the S1 state. While the weakened hydrogen bond in IQc:H2O complex is probably cleaved upon the laser pulse because the simulated emission spectrum of the free IQc is in better agreement with the experimental results.

Perovskite CH3NH3PbI3–xBrx Single Crystals with Charge-Carrier Lifetimes Exceeding 260 μs

The long carrier lifetimes in perovskite single crystals have drawn significant attention recently on account of their irreplaceable contribution to high-performance photovoltaic (PV) devices. Herein, the optical and optoelectronic properties of CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbI3-xBrx (with five different contents of Br doped) single crystals were investigated. Notably, a superior carrier lifetime of up to 262 μs was observed in the CH3NH3PbI3-xBrx (I/Br = 10:1 in the precursor) single-crystal PV device under 1 sun illumination, which is two times longer than that in the CH3NH3PbI3 single crystal. Further study confirmed that the ultralong carrier lifetime was ascribed to the integrated superiority derived from both the low trap-state density and high charge-injection efficiency of the device interface. On this basis, appropriate incorporation of Br is useful in the design of better PV devices.

Effects of Solvent Dielectric Constant and Viscosity on Two Rotational Relaxation Paths of Excited 9-(Dicyanovinyl) Julolidine.

The understanding of the interplay between microenvironment and molecular rotors is helpful for designing and developing of molecular sensors of local physical properties. We present a study on the two rotational relaxation paths of excited 9-(dicyanovinyl) julolidine in several solvents. One rotational path (C-C single-bond rotation, τb) quickly leads to the formation of a twisted state. The other path (C═C double-bond rotation, τc) shows that the populations go back to the ground state directly via a conical intersection between the S1 and ground state. The increase in the solvent dielectric constant shows little effect on the τb lifetime for its small energy barrier (<0.01 eV), but τc lifetime is increased in larger dielectric constant solvents due to the larger energy gap at conical intersection. Both τb and τc are increased greatly with the increased solvent viscosity. τb is more sensitive to viscosity than τc may be due to its larger rotational moiety.

The Effects of Heteroatoms Si and S on Tuning the Optical Properties of Rhodamine‐ and Fluorescein‐Based Fluorescence Probes: A Theoretical Analysis

The effects of the incorporated heteroatoms Si and S on tuning the optical properties of rhodamine- and fluorescein-based fluorescence probes is investigated using DFT and time-dependent DFT with four different functionals. As previously proposed, the large redshift (90 nm) produced by a Si atom in both the absorption and emission spectra can be attributed to the σ*-π* conjugation between the σ* orbital of the Si atom and the π* orbital of the adjacent carbon atoms. However, the presence of a Si atom does not alter the fluorescence quenching mechanism of the nonfluorescent forms of the investigated compounds. For the first time, these theoretical results indicate that the n orbital of the S atom plays an important role in determining the optical properties of the nonfluorescent form of rhodamine-based fluorescence probes. It alters the fluorescence quenching mechanism by lowering the energy of the dark nπ* state, which is due to breakage of the C10-S52 bond upon photoexcitation.

Potential Energy Surfaces for the First Two Lowest-Lying Electronic States of the LiH2(+) System, and Dynamics of the H(+) + LiH ⇌ H2(+) + Li + Reactions.

Two new potential energy surfaces are established for the ground and first excited electronic states of the LiH2(+) system, which are important for the astrophysics-related H(+) + LiH(+) and H(+) + LiH reactions. The ab initio energy points are calculated using the complete active space self-consistent field and multireference configuration interaction method with aug-cc-pVQZ basis set. At each state, more than 40000 energy points are calculated. The spectroscopic constants of the diatoms and the topographical characters of the new surfaces are examined in detail, showing good agreement with the available literature results. The reaction probabilities, integral and differential cross sections, and rate constants for the H(+) + LiH ⇌ H2(+) + Li reactions are obtained by performing quantum dynamics calculations, and compared with the previous literature results. The reaction mechanisms are discussed in detail. It is shown that the new surfaces can be recommended for the dynamics study of the H(+) + LiH(+) and H(+) + LiH(+) reactions and other research including LiH2(+) based rovibrational spectra and cluster dynamics.