Course Identification

The course will cover basic photophysics and photochemistry of organic molecules (with the emphasis on energy and electron transfer), as well as introductory material on solar energy conversion.

Interaction of organic molecules with light. Absorption and emission of light by organic molecules. Properties of the excited states of organic molecules. Singlet and triplet states. Emission of light by molecules. Excimers and exciplexes.

Excitation energy transfer: Forster and Dexter mechanisms.

Photoinduced electron transfer (PET) in organic systems. Thermodynamic aspects: excitation energies and. redox potentials. Marcus theory of electron transfer. Reorganization energies, inverted region. Electronic coupling, distance dependence in organic systems.

Interaction of metal and semiconductor nanoparticles with light - overview.

Solar energy conversion. Natural photosynthesis - structure/function relationships, energy and electron transfer mechanisms, light-driven catalysis. Chemical systems for solar energy conversion - organic solar cells and artificial photosynthesis.

Upon successful completion of this course students should be able to:

Demonstrate knowledge of molecular photonics, photoinduced energy, and electron transfer; basics of nanophotonics and solar energy conversion

Turro, Modern Molecular Photochemistry of Organic Molecules