Efficient energy transfer between inorganic semiconductor nanocrystal and organic molecules is a widely sought after. However, the majority studies are still limited to the transfer of spin-singlet excitons. Here we report efficient triplet energy transfer from PbS nanocrystal to surface bound pentacene molecules anchored with a carboxylic acid group. Steady state photoluminescence quenching experiments indicate that the triplet energy transfer (TET) only occurs when the bandgap of PbS NC is larger than the triplet state energy of pentacene (0.86 eV). The larger band gap of smaller PbS leads to the increasing driving force, thus promoting the rate of TET. Ultra-fast transient absorption shows that triplet energy transfer to pentacene molecules occurs rapidly, within 0.5 ps, as measured by the fast ground state bleaching of PbS and formation of pentacene molecules excited triplet state at the same timescale.

Energy transfer from PbS nanocrystals to pentacene

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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