Time-resolved Infrared Absorption Study of Photochemical Reactions Over Metal Oxides

Abstract

The present account describes how photochemical reactions over metal oxides are traced by time-resolved infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy. The ac-coupled amplification of the IR signal allows detection of transient absorbance changes as small as 10−6 with a time resolution of 50 ns. Band-gap excited electrons in TiO2 and NaTaO3 present a structureless absorption of IR light from 3000 to 1000 cm−1. Reaction-perturbed decay of this absorption evidences the assignment to photoexcited electrons, not to holes. The efficiency of the water splitting reaction on NaTaO3-based catalysts correlates with the quantity of electrons detected by the IR absorption. A short-lived intermediate state of 2-propanol oxidation on TiO2 is identified by its vibrational band at 1640 cm−1 superposed on the structureless absorption of electrons. Ru dye (N3) on a TiO2 film is irradiated with a 532-nm light pulse to simulate dye-sensitized solar cells. The neutralization rate of dye cations and the decay rate of electrons injected in the film are quantified, leading to a three-state model which describes the relaxation of injected electrons. These results demonstrate the ability of this method in tracing photochemical kinetics over metal oxides.