Theoretical study of charge transfer mechanism in fullerene-phenyl-phenothiazine compound: A real-space analysis

Quantum chemistry methods as well as two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) real-space analysis have been conducted to study the photo-induced intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) and excited state properties of fullerene-phenylphenothiazine, which has recently been developed for solar cells. Firstly, we obtained the energy levels and spatial distributions of HOMO/LUMO, energy gap (ΔEH–LΔEH–L) and excitation energies on the basis of quantum chemistry study. Secondly, two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) real-space analysis were used to visualize the CT process and to reveal the nature of the excited states. In the above analyses, the 2D real-space analysis of the transition density matrix provided information about the electron-hole coherence, and the 3D real-space analysis of charge difference density enabled the visualization of the orientation and result of the ICT. The results of real-space analysis directly indicate that some states are ICT states, and others belong to locally excited states. Moreover, according to the generalized Mulliken Hush theory, we calculated the electronic coupling matrix elements and predict that electron transfer for some ICT states more easily takes place than that for some locally excited states.

► We studied charge transfer mechanism of fullerene-phenylphenothiazine.
► Real-space analysis was used to visualize CT process and reveal excited states nature.
► Results show that some states are ICT, and others are locally excited states.
► Among all states, electron transfer of ICT states more easily occurs upon excitation.