Photoinduced ultrafast dynamics of Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2-sensitized nanocrystalline TiO2 films:The influence of sample preparation and experimental conditions

In most of the previous ultrafast electron injection studies of Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2-sensitized nanocrystalline TiO2 films, experimental conditions and sample preparation have been different from study to study and no studies of how the differences affect the observed dynamics have been reported. In the present paper, we have investigated the influence of such modifications. Pump photon density, environment of the sensitized film (solvent and air), and parameters of the film preparation (crystallinity and quality of the film) were varied in a systematic way and the obtained dynamics were compared to that of a well-defined reference sample:  Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2−TiO2 in acetonitrile. In some cases, …