Photoinduced interfacial electron injection in RuN3–TiO2 thin films: Resolving picosecond timescale injection from the triplet state of the protonated and deprotonated dyes

Using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy we have studied light-induced electron injection from the sensitizer RuN3 and its partly deprotonated tetrabutylamonium salt to nano-structured TiO2 film. Previous studies have suggested significant differences in electron injection dynamics for these dyes and some results have indicated that aggregation of the sensitizer may lead to slow injection. By measuring transient absorption spectra and kinetics of RuN3 and RuN3-TBA in solution and attached to TiO2 film we show that the electron injection dynamics are very similar for the two forms of the dye and that aggregation has only moderate effects on the electron transfer dynamics. (c) 2008…