Coupled quantum-classical method for long range charge transfer: relevance of the nuclear motion to the quantum electron dynamics

Abstract

Charge and excitonic-energy transfer phenomena are fundamental for energy conversion in solar cells as well as artificial photosynthesis. Currently, much interest is being paid to light-harvesting and energy transduction processes in supramolecular structures, where nuclear dynamics has a major influence on electronic quantum dynamics. For this reason, the simulation of long range electron transfer in supramolecular structures, under environmental conditions described within an atomistic framework, has been a difficult problem to study. This work describes a coupled quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics method that aims at describing long range charge transfer processes in supramolecular systems, taking into account the atomistic details of large molecular structures, the underlying nuclear motion, and environmental effects. The method is applied to investigate the relevance of electron–nuclei interaction on the mechanisms for photo-induced electron–hole pair separation in dye-sensitized interfaces as well as electronic dynamics in molecular structures.