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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Excitonic Hamiltonians for Calculating Optical Absorption Spectra and Optoelectronic Properties of Molecular Aggregates and Solids
Published on: May 27, 2020
Adsorption based on excitation
Shi-Chao Qi1, Yan-Yan Han1, Yong-Lan Liu1
1State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China.
None:
Traditionally, adsorption is believed to take place only in the ground state, but here we report an excitation-driven adsorption mode. Composites of metallophthalocyanines and carbonaceous substrates are prepared, among which the potassium-phthalocyanine (KPc)/reduced graphene oxide (RG) composite shows the most typical behavior. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and first-principles simulations reveal that under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, the excited electrons in the composite transfer efficiently from KPc to RG, leaving long-lived excited holes on KPc that enable selective adsorption of CO molecules. In the dark, the composite shows negligible CO adsorption (0.06 mmol g⁻1), whereas its CO uptake increases to 1.20 mmol g⁻1 upon UV light, with a UV-modulated adsorption capacity ratio of up to 95%. This adsorption mode is also applicable to other metallophthalocyanine/carbonaceous composites. This work presents a potential strategy for photoexcitation utilization and the development of energy-efficient chemical separation technologies.
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