Effects of Nuclear Motion on the Photoinduced Interfacial Charge Transfer Dynamics at a NiO/P1 Photocathode

The performance of dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells is presently limited by the photocathode component. Here, we investigate the impact of nuclear dynamics on the photoinduced charge separation of the benchmark NiO/P1 system (P1 = 4-(bis-4-(5-(2,2-dicyano-vinyl)-thiophene-2-yl)-phenyl-amino)-benzoic acid). Transient absorption (TA) studies in aqueous environments with different viscosities show that photoinduced hole injection either proceeds ultrafast (<100 fs) or in a sub-ps time window. We assign the fastest component to a surface species strongly coupled to the NiO. Interestingly, the slower injection component and charge recombination are slowed down considerably in more viscous media. Quantum-classical dynamics simulations of a system with the dye standing perpendicular to the surface yield an injection lifetime remarkably close to the slow component from kinetic modeling of the TA results. Simulations including nuclear thermal motion yield a 2-fold increase in hole transfer rate compared to simulations on fixed nuclei, highlighting the role of nuclear motion and providing new design principles for dye-sensitized photocathodes.