Faculty Advisors: Prashant V. Kamat, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Radiation Laboratory

Energy Transfer in Manganese doped CsPbCl3 Quantum Dots (Summer 2024)

Recent publications and experiments have depicted the versatility and capabilities of semiconductor nanocrystal-dye based assemblies. The light energy processing potential of these models can be applied to solar energy conversion and photocatalysis. Solar energy can be converted to electricity, which can provide a more efficient, renewable solar energy source than current silicon solar cells by extending the photoresponse of these cells. Additionally, they provide a fine-tuned ability to harvest and transport electrons, and this system is found naturally in photosynthesis.

CsPbBr3 with rhodamine dyes, a nanocrystal-dye hybrid, has the ability to harness singlet and triplet state electrons, even combining two low energy triplet state electrons into a single higher energy singlet state electron through a triplet-triplet annihilation up-conversion process. To understand and optimize the energy transfer between the semiconductor nanocrystals and dye molecules, we will be studying a new hybrid structure: Manganese doped CsPbCl3 with IR125 as our dye. Analyzing this new hybrid structure, we will find how the doped band gap of the nanocrystal and the chemical structure of a different dye will affect the magnitude and efficiency of energy transfer. Using various higher level lab equipment and techniques, we will analyze the kinetics of the system to compare the energy transfer to previous hybrid structures.