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Mixed anatase/rutile TiO2 exhibits high photocatalytic activity; however, the mechanism underlying the high performance of the mixed phases is not fully understood. We have performed time-domain ab initio calculations to study the exited state dynamics in mixed phase TiO2 and to investigate the impact of an oxygen vacancy on the dynamics. The anatase(100)/rutile(001) heterostructures with and without an oxygen vacancy used in this work exhibit type II band alignment with the conduction band of rutile residing above that of anatase. The oxygen vacancy introduces a hole trap state inside the bandgap. Owing to a strong coupling between the donor and acceptor states, the electron and hole transfers across the anatase/rutile interface occur on an ultrafast 100 fs timescale in both systems. The decoupling of electron and hole favors a long-lived charge separated state. The electron–hole recombination across the pristine anatase/rutile interface takes 6.6 ns and is significantly slower than that in the pure anatase and rutile phases, showing good agreement with experiments. The electron transfer dynamics is independent of the oxygen vacancy, which has some influence on the hole transfer and a strong effect on carrier recombination. By creating a hole trap state, the vacancy accelerates carrier losses by over an order of magnitude. The fast charge separation and the long lifetime of the charge separated state rationalize the enhanced photocatalytic performance of mixed phase TiO2 compared to the pure phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a measurement of molecular orientation of water at charged surfactant aqueous interfaces as a function of surface charge density. The polarization dependent spectral line shapes of the water bend mode were measured by vibrational sum-frequency generation at the positively charged surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)/water interface and negatively charged surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate/water interface. Orientational analysis using the water bend mode as a vibrational probe, within the electric dipole approximation, reveals structural differences between these surfaces and quantifies how different hydrogen bonded species re-orient around the surfactant head groups as the surface charge density changes. As the concentration of the positively charged surfactant (CTAB) increases, the surface water molecules with free-OH groups reorient their hydrogen away from the bulk water and the C2v axis closer to the surface normal. This suggests that these free-OH molecules are in general located above the positively charged head groups of CTAB, and thus, the charge-dipole interaction pulls their oxygen "down" and pushes hydrogen "up." On the contrary, water molecules with two donor hydrogen bonds re-orient their hydrogen toward the bulk water, likely because most of these molecules are below the CTAB surfactant head groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The air-water interface is perhaps the most common liquid interface. It covers more than 70 per cent of the Earth's surface and strongly affects atmospheric, aerosol and environmental chemistry. The air-water interface has also attracted much interest as a model system that allows rigorous tests of theory, with one fundamental question being just how thin it is. Theoretical studies have suggested a surprisingly short 'healing length' of about 3 angstroms (1 Å = 0.1 nm), with the bulk-phase properties of water recovered within the top few monolayers (1-3). However, direct experimental evidence has been elusive owing to the difficulty of depth-profiling the liquid surface on the angstrom scale. Most physical, chemical and biological properties of water, such as viscosity, solvation, wetting and the hydrophobic effect, are determined by its hydrogen-bond network. This can be probed by observing the lineshape of the OH-stretch mode, the frequency shift of which is related to the hydrogen-bond strength (4-6). Here we report a combined experimental and theoretical study of the air-water interface using surface-selective heterodyne-detected vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy to focus on the 'free OD' transition found only in the topmost water layer. By using deuterated water and isotopic dilution to reveal the vibrational coupling mechanism, we find that the free OD stretch is affected only by intramolecular coupling to the stretching of the other OD group on the same molecule. The other OD stretch frequency indicates the strength of one of the first hydrogen bonds encountered at the surface; this is the donor hydrogen bond of the water molecule straddling the interface, which we find to be only slightly weaker than bulk-phase water hydrogen bonds. We infer from this observation a remarkably fast onset of bulk-phase behaviour on crossing from the air into the water phase., The vibrational spectroscopy of aqueous interfaces has progressed significantly in recent years with the development of surface-selective spectroscopic techniques (7-12), and with the ability to model the dynamic H-bond network [...]

The frequency-domain sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and the time-domain SFG-free induction decay technique are combined for characterization of more complex molecular surfaces under ambient conditions. Relative amplitudes change and additional transitions emerge at lower surface pressure indicating changes in molecular orientation and onset of disorder.

The effect of a positively charged dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) surfactant on the aqueous solvation of coumarin 314 (C314), a solvatochromic molecule, at the air/water interface was investigated. Steady-state and femtosecond time-resolved second harmonic generation (SHG) spectroscopy was employed as a surface-selective tool to characterize the solvation of C314.

The effect of lipid surfactants on the solvation dynamics at air/water interface is examined using time-resolved second harmonic generation spectroscopy for this purpose. It is found that the carboxylate and sulfate surfactants induce similar dynamics, suggesting that the solation is not sensitive to the chemical composition of the headgroup but rather to the total negative surface charge density.

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of the negatively charged carboxylate group of the stearic acid surfactant CH(sub 3)(CH(sub 2))(sub 16)COO(super -) on the solvation at the surfactant air/water interface. It was found that the static solvation energetics appears to be relatively insensitive to the ionization state of the stearic acid surfactant.

Sum frequency generation (SFG) is a surface-selective spectroscopy that provides a wealth of molecular-level information on the structure and dynamics at surfaces and interfaces. This paper addresses the general issue of spectral resolution and sensitivity of the broad-band (BB) SFG that involves a spectrally narrow nonresonant (usually visible) and a BB resonant (usually infrared) laser pulses. We examine how the spectral width and temporal shape of the two pulses, and the time delay between them, relate to the spectroscopic line shape and signal level in the BB-SFG measurement. By combining experimental and model calculations, we show that the best spectral resolution and highest signal level are simultaneously achieved when the nonresonant narrow-band upconversion pulse arrives with a nonzero time delay after the resonant BB pulse. The nonzero time delay partially avoids the linear trade-off of improving spectral resolution at the expense of decreasing signal intensity, which is common in BB-SFG schemes utilizing spectral filtering to produce narrow-band visible pulses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular organization at polyimide surfaces used as alignment layers in liquid crystal displays was investigated using vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. We focus on the orientation of the long alkyl side groups at the polymer surface using polarization-selected SFG spectra of the CH3- and CH2-stretch modes of the side chain. Mechanical rubbing and baking, an accepted industrial procedure used to produce pretilt of the liquid crystal, was found to induce pronounced azimuthal anisotropy in the orientational distribution of the alkyl side chains. Orientational analysis of the SFG vibrational spectra in terms of the azimuthal and tilt angles (in and out of plane, respectively) of the alkyl side chains shows their preferential tilt along the rubbing direction, with the azimuthal distribution narrower for stronger rubbed polymer samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time- and frequency-domain three-wave mixing spectroscopy (IR+visible sum frequency generation) is developed as the lowest-order nonlinear technique that is both surface selective and capable of measuring spectral evolution of vibrational coherences. Using 70 fs infrared and 40 fs visible pulses, we observe ultrafast spectral dynamics of the OD stretch of D2O at the CaF2 surface. Spectral shifts indicative of the hydrogen-bond network rearrangement occur on the 100 fs time scale, within the observation time window determined by the vibrational dephasing. By tuning the IR pulse wavelength to the blue or red side of the OD-stretch transition, we selectively monitor the dynamics of different subensembles in the distribution of the H-bond structures. The blue-side excitation (weaker H-bonding structures) shows monotonic decay and ν(OD) frequency shift to the red on a 100 fs time scale, which is better described by a Gaussian than an exponential frequency correlation function. In contrast, the red-side excitation (stronger H-bonding structures) results in a blue spectral shift and a recursion in the signal at 125±10 fs, indicating the presence of an underdamped intermolecular mode of interfacial water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method of broad-band heterodyne-detected sum frequency generation (HD-SFG) spectroscopy is developed and its high sensitivity is demonstrated, allowing measurements of vibrational spectra of submonolayers. The HD-SFG spectroscopy has provided the phase as well the amplitude of the signal and has allowed accurate subtraction of the non-resonant background.

Nonlinear surface-selective vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy is applied to characterize the conformation of dodecanethiol on gold nanoparticle surfaces. The results have shown the relation between the nanoscale geometry, such as the surface curvature of spherical gold nanoparticles and the molecular conformation of the chemisorbed dodecanethiol ligand, and have illustrated the utility of the second-order nonlinear SFG spectroscopy as a sensitive probe of the molecular conformation, particularly for surfaces of metallic nanostructures.

The thermally activated recombination reaction O+O2→O3 is observed in solid xenon matrices and in free-standing crystals of xenon at 14–25 K on the time scale 102–105 s. The reactants are prepared as spatially separated O...O2 pairs immobilized in solid Xe at 10 K by 266 nm photodissociation of O3 precursor molecules. The temperature dependence of the ozone recovery rate yields an activation energy for diffusion of O atoms in solid xenon of 2.0±0.5 kJ/mol. This value also represents an upper limit to the potential energy barrier to the O+O2 recombination reaction itself. In dilute samples (mole fraction of ozone less than 2×10-4) more than 90% of the initial O3 is recovered during the warming cycle. Only a small fraction of O atoms (<20%) escape geminate recombination with the partner oxygen molecule within the pair and react with other O2 molecules or O atoms. The experimental results are interpreted within the framework of a continuous diffusion model in which the initial spatial distribution of reactants is nonrandom. © 1996 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photochemistry of solid ozone and solid solutions of ozone in argon has been investigated at 10–30 K using 266 nm laser irradiation and detection by ultraviolet and infrared absorption spectroscopies. Pure ozone is converted to O2 with a quantum yield of 2.0±0.3 (independent of temperature) due to reaction of each photolytically generated O atom with a second ozone molecule. The quantum yield decreases when O3 is diluted in argon because geminate recombination of O+O2 becomes competitive with the O+O3 reaction. Photodissociation of ozone monomers is thought to occur by direct cage escape, which forms a separated O+O2 pair. This is the first experimental study in which the temperature dependence of the escape probability has been systematically investigated. The apparent activation energy of the process, 0.38±0.08 kJ/mol, is consistent with excitation of librations of ozone in the argon lattice, which brings it into orientations that are favorable for direct cage escape of the O atom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of a Langmuir monolayer of fatty acid on static solvation properties as well as femtosecond solvation dynamics at aplanar air-water interface is investigated using second harmonic generation as a surface-specific probe. The results demonstrate that the stearic acid monolayer induces significant changes in both static and dynamic solvation at the air-water interface.

Wepresent a general response function formalism describing thecontribution of orientational dynamics of molecules at interfacesto spectroscopic line shapes in vibrational sum frequency generation(SFG). When reorientation occurs on the time scale comparable to vibrationaldephasing, its dynamics can be extracted from polarization-selectedSFG spectral line shapes. Unique features of orientational motionat interfaces are (1) the anisotropic case-specific equilibrium orientationaldistribution and (2) possible dynamic anisotropy (e.g., differentin-plane versus out-of-plane relaxation rates), both of which mustbe taken into account. Within the small-step rotational diffusionmodel, we present solutions for two cases, the weak-confinement model,applicable when the deviations from the isotropic case are not severe,and the wobbling-in-a-cone model, which considers a hard-wall orientingpotential. SFG line shapes are calculated for a rod-like chromophoreas a function of the rotational diffusion rate. For certain equilibriumorientational distributions, orientational dynamics may result inanomalous bi-Lorentzian line shapes (two Lorentzians of differentwidths centered and the same frequency). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular organization of vapor-deposited organic molecules in the active layer of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has been a matter of great interest as it directly influences various optoelectronic properties and the overall performance of the devices. Contrary to the general assumption of isotropic molecular orientation in vacuum-deposited thin-film OLEDs, it is possible to achieve an anisotropic molecular distribution at or near the surface under controlled experimental conditions. In this study, we have used interface-specific vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy to determine the orientation of a low-molecular weight OLED material, 4,4'-bis( N -carbazolyl)-1,1'-biphenyl (CBP), at free (air) and buried (CaF 2 ) interfaces. VSFG spectra were measured at four different polarization combinations for five different thicknesses of the CBP film. The spectral shift and VSFG intensity changes with the film thickness can be accurately modeled by considering the optical interference effect of the signals coming from the CBP/air and CBP/CaF 2 interfaces. A global fitting of the experimental spectra for all thicknesses along with theoretical simulations reveal that the long molecular axis of CBP is oriented at an angle of ∼58° (47-70°) from the surface normal at the air/CBP interface, whereas at the CBP/CaF 2 interface, the angle is ∼48° (43-52°). Such a change in the angle (∼10°) suggests that the CBP molecule tends to orient more vertically (edge-on) at the buried CaF 2 interface, which may be attributed to the intermolecular π-π stacking interaction between adjacent CBP molecules.

Ultrathin silicon solar cells fabricated by anisotropic wet chemical etching of single-crystalline wafer materials represent an attractive materials platform that could provide many advantages for realizing high-performance, low-cost photovoltaics. However, their intrinsically limited photovoltaic performance arising from insufficient absorption of low-energy photons demands careful design of light management to maximize the efficiency and preserve the cost-effectiveness of solar cells. Herein we present an integrated flexible solar module of ultrathin, nanostructured silicon solar cells capable of simultaneously exploiting spectral upconversion and downshifting in conjunction with multispectral luminescent waveguides and a nanostructured plasmonic reflector to compensate for their weak optical absorption and enhance their performance. The 8 μm-thick silicon solar cells incorporating a hexagonally periodic nanostructured surface relief are surface-embedded in layered multispectral luminescent media containing organic dyes and NaYF 4 :Yb 3+ ,Er 3+ nanocrystals as downshifting and upconverting luminophores, respectively, via printing-enabled deterministic materials assembly. The ultrathin nanostructured silicon microcells in the composite luminescent waveguide exhibit strongly augmented photocurrent (∼40.1 mA/cm 2 ) and energy conversion efficiency (∼12.8%) than devices with only a single type of luminescent species, owing to the synergistic contributions from optical downshifting, plasmonically enhanced upconversion, and waveguided photon flux for optical concentration, where the short-circuit current density increased by ∼13.6 mA/cm 2 compared with microcells in a nonluminescent medium on a plain silver reflector under a confined illumination.

We previously reported the spectrum of the water bend vibrational mode (ν 2 ) at the air/water interface measured using sum-frequency generation (SFG). Here, we present experimental evidence to aid the assignment of the ν 2 spectral features to H-bonded classes of interfacial water, which is in general agreement with two recent independently published theoretical studies. The dispersive line shape shows an apparent frequency shift between SSP and PPP polarization combinations (SFG-visible-infrared). This is naturally explained as an interference effect between the negative (1630 cm -1 ) and positive (1662 cm -1 ) peaks corresponding to "free-OH" and "H-bonded" species, respectively, which have different orientations and thus different amplitudes in SSP and PPP spectra. A surfactant monolayer of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used to suppress the free OH species at the surface, and the corresponding SFG spectral changes indicate that these water molecules with one of the hydrogens pointing up into the air phase contribute to the negative peak at 1630 cm -1 .

Surface-bound azobenzenes exhibit reversible photoswitching via trans-cis photoisomerization and have been proposed for a variety of applications such as photowritable optical media, liquid crystal displays, molecular electronics, and smart wetting surfaces. We report a novel synthetic route using simple protection chemistry to form azobenzene-functionalized SAMs on gold and present a mechanistic study of the molecular order, orientation, and conformation in these self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). We use vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) to characterize their vibrational modes, molecular orientation, and photoisomerization kinetics. Trans-cis conformational change of azobenzene leads to the change in the orientation of the nitrile marker group detected by VSFG. Mixed SAMs of azobenzene and alkane thiols are used to investigate the steric hindrance effects. While 100% azobenzene SAMs do not exhibit photoisomerization due to tight packing, we observe reversible switching (>10 cycles) in mixed SAMs with only 34% and 50% of alkane thiol spacers.

Surface-selective sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy has been previously shown to benefit from a finite time delay between two input laser pulses, which suppresses the nonresonant background and improves spectral resolution. Here we demonstrate another consequence of the time delay in SFG: depending on the magnitude of the delay, nearby resonances (e.g., vibrational modes) can "flip" their relative phase, i.e., appear either in-phase or out-of-phase with one another, resulting in either constructive or destructive interference in SFG spectra. This is significant for interpretation of the SFG spectra, in particular because the sign of the resonant amplitude provides the absolute molecular orientation (up vs down) of the vibrational chromophore. We present results and model calculations for symmetric and asymmetric CH-stretch modes of the methyl-terminated Si(111) surface, showing that the phase flip occurs when the delay matches half-cycle of the difference frequency between the two modes.

Molecular organization of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) monolayers of novel copper-containing metal-ligand surfactants was characterized by the surface-selective vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. The orientational and conformational order inferred from the SFG peak amplitudes and line shapes were correlated with the two-dimensional phases of the monolayers observed in the compression isotherms. The octadecyl-pyridin-2-ylmethyl-amine (L(PyC18)) ligand by itself shows good amphiphilic properties, as indicated by the high monolayer collapse pressure at the air/water interface, but its LB films transferred onto fused silica exhibit a high degree of trans-gauche conformational disorder in the alkyl tails. Coordination of copper(II) ions to the chelating head group enhances the molecular alignment and reduces the fraction of gauche defects of the alkyl chains. Monolayers of single-tail (L(PyC18)Cu(II)Cl(2)) and double-tail [(L(PyC18))(2)Cu(II)]Cl(2) metallosurfactants show distinctly different behavior of their molecular organization as a function of the area per molecule. Our observations suggest metal-ligand interactions as a pathway to induce molecular order in LB monolayer films.

Covalent surface attachment of carbohydrate moieties using maleimide-sulfhydril reaction was characterized by surface-selective vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy. The comparative VSFG spectra of the precursor maleimide-terminated SAM and the product glucose adlayer reveal the high efficiency of the surface coupling reaction (>90%) and the details of the molecular organization of the formed carbohydrate adlayer. The glucose groups are orientationally well ordered, as judged by their sharp C-H stretch bands. The chemical structure of the linker can significantly affect the orientation of the carbohydrate moiety at the surface. Two alkanethiol linkers of different chain lengths (11 and 16 carbons) yield similar orientations of the glucose in the adlayer whereas the cysteine-containing linker produces markedly different relative peak intensities of the glucose C-H stretch bands in the VSFG spectra, suggesting a significantly different orientation with respect to the surface plane.

The attachment of cells onto solid supports is fundamental in the development of advanced biosensors or biochips. In this work, we characterize cortical neuron adhesion, growth, and distribution of an adhesive layer, depending on the molecular structure and composition . Neuronal networks are successfully grown on amino-terminated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold substrate without adhesion protein interfaces. Neuron adhesion efficiency was studied for amino-terminated, carboxy-terminated, and 1:1 mixed alkanethiol SAMs deposited on gold substrates. Atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to measure the roughness of gold substrate and thickness of SAM monolayers. Conformational ordering and ionic content of SAMs were characterized by vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy. Only pure amino-terminated SAMs provide efficient neuronal cell attachment. Ordering of the terminal amino groups does not affect efficiency of neuron adhesion. VSFG analysis shows that ordering of the terminal groups improves with decreasing surface roughness; however the number of gauche defects in alkane chains is independent of surface roughness. We monitor partial dissociation of carboxy groups in mixed SAMs that implies formation of NH3+ neighbors and appearance of catanionic structure. Such catanionic environment proved inefficient for neuron adhesion. Surface roughness of metal within the 0.7-2 nm range has little effect on the efficiency of neuron adhesion. This approach can be used to create new methods that help map structure-property relationships of biohybrid systems.

Time- and frequency-domain three-wave mixing spectroscopy (IR+visible sum frequency generation) is developed as the lowest-order nonlinear technique that is both surface selective and capable of measuring spectral evolution of vibrational coherences. Using 70 fs infrared and 40 fs visible pulses, we observe ultrafast spectral dynamics of the OD stretch of D2O at the CaF2 surface. Spectral shifts indicative of the hydrogen-bond network rearrangement occur on the 100 fs time scale, within the observation time window determined by the vibrational dephasing. By tuning the IR pulse wavelength to the blue or red side of the OD-stretch transition, we selectively monitor the dynamics of different subensembles in the distribution of the H-bond structures. The blue-side excitation (weaker H-bonding structures) shows monotonic decay and nu(OD) frequency shift to the red on a 100 fs time scale, which is better described by a Gaussian than an exponential frequency correlation function. In contrast, the red-side excitation (stronger H-bonding structures) results in a blue spectral shift and a recursion in the signal at 125+/-10 fs, indicating the presence of an underdamped intermolecular mode of interfacial water.