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Updated: Apr 12, 2026

Integrating a Triplet-triplet Annihilation Up-conversion System to Enhance Dye-sensitized Solar Cell Response to Sub-bandgap Light
Published on: September 12, 2014
Aggregation-induced photon upconversion through control of the triplet energy landscapes of the solution and solid
Pengfei Duan1, Nobuhiro Yanai2,3, Yuki Kurashige4,5,6
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Center for Molecular Systems (CMS), Kyushu University, 744 Moto-oka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan).
Abstract:
Aggregation-induced photon upconversion (iPUC) based on control of the triplet energy landscape is demonstrated for the first time. When a triplet state of a cyano-substituted 1,4-distyrylbenzene derivative is sensitized in solution, no upconverted emission based on triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) was observed. In stark contrast, crystalline solids obtained by drying the solution revealed clear upconverted emission. Theoretical studies unveiled an underlying switching mechanism: the excited triplets in solution immediately decay back to the ground state through conformational twisting around a CC bond and photoisomerization, whereas this deactivation path is effectively inhibited in the solid state. The finding of iPUC phenomena highlights the importance of controlling excited energy landscapes in condensed molecular systems.
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