Supramolecular-Surface Photochemistry: Exploring the Excited state Behavior of Confined Molecules Organized on Surfaces

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Light induced chemical processes play important roles in biological systems (such as vision of animals and photosynthesis for the conversion of sunlight to chemical energy stored in plants) and have potential applications in the capture and conversion of light energy to other forms of energy in solar energy devices. The understanding of the fundamentals of light induced chemical processes will help towards efficient utilization of light for beneficial purposes. To this end, Prof. V. Ramamurthy of University of Miami aims to gain a fundamental understanding of the light induced energy and electron transfer processes of small molecules confined in molecular containers on different types of material surface. This interdisciplinary research project, which involves US and international collaborations, provides a unique environment for training graduate and undergraduate students on different aspects of photochemistry, supramolecular chemistry, and surface chemistry. In addition, Prof. Rammamurthy develops special general lectures to help students and young researchers recognize the important role of basic science in everyday life. In this project, supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry, Prof. V. Ramamurthy investigates the excited state behavior of supramolecular structures assembled on solid surfaces. The specific objectives of this project are: 1) to study photoinduced energy transfer between organic donor and acceptor molecules which are separated and encapsulated in cavitands aligned on passive surfaces (e.g., saponite clay, alpha-zirconium (IV) phosphate and layered double hydroxide); 2) to investigate photoinduced electron transfer across the cavitand wall between an encapsulated organic molecule (as donor) and TiO2 (as acceptor) on which the cavitand container is anchored; and 3) to explore the use of gold clusters and nanoparticles as electron transfer sensitizers in triggering photochemical reactions of small organic molecules encapsulated in cavitands attached to the gold clusters and nanoparticles.