Interligand Electron Transfer Determines Triplet Excited State Electron Injection in RuN3−Sensitized TiO2 Films

Electron injection from the transition metal complex Ru(dcbpy)(2)(NCS)(2) (dcbpy = 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylate) into a titanium dioxide nanoparticle film occurs along two pathways. The dominating part of the electron injection proceeds from the initially excited singlet state of the sensitizer into the conduction band of the semiconductor on the sub-hundred-femtosecond time scale. The slower part of the injection occurs from the thermalized triplet excited state on the picosecond time scale in a nonexponential fashion, as was shown in a previous study (Benko, G.; et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 489). Here we show that the slower channel of injection is the result of the excited s…