Non-dispersive second-order charge recombination at mesoporous TiO₂/adsorbed molecules/electrolyte interfaces.
- 1Division of Chemistry and Materials, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University Ueda Nagano 386-8567 Japan [email protected].
Abstract
The large surface areas of mesoporous metal oxide electrodes have been widely exploited for various applications including photocatalysis, electrosynthesis cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, and perovskite solar cells. Understanding interfacial electron transfer kinetics is essential for these applications. Charge recombination between electrons in the electrode and surface-adsorbed molecules has frequently been reported to exhibit highly dispersive kinetics. For more than two decades, these results have been interpreted primarily with electron trapping and de-trapping within TiO₂. Here, we show that charge recombination at the molecular-anchored mesoporous TiO₂/electrolyte interface follows a non-dispersive second-order rate law and exhibit little temperature dependence under appropriate conditions. Furthermore, we show that the same TiO₂ displays dispersive recombination depending on the structure of adsorbed molecules and electrolyte cations, demonstrating that the dispersive recombination is not an intrinsic property of mesoporous TiO₂ and cannot be attributed solely to intra-band charge traps. Instead, the results suggest that electronic coupling disorder of the molecules on the TiO₂ surface is a major origin of the dispersion.
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BibTeX
@article{narita2026nondispersive,
title = {{Non-dispersive second-order charge recombination at mesoporous TiO₂/adsorbed molecules/electrolyte interfaces.}},
author = {Mitsuru Narita and Shogo Mori},
journal = {Chemical science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6sc05541a},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903949},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Non-dispersive second-order charge recombination at mesoporous TiO₂/adsorbed molecules/electrolyte interfaces.
AU - Mitsuru Narita
AU - Shogo Mori
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Chemical science
DO - 10.1039/d6sc05541a
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903949
AB - The large surface areas of mesoporous metal oxide electrodes have been widely exploited for various applications including photocatalysis, electrosynthesis cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, and perovskite solar cells. Understanding interfacial electron transfer kinetics is essential for these applications. Charge recombination between electrons in the electrode and surface-adsorbed molecules has frequently been reported to exhibit highly dispersive kinetics. For more than two decades, these results have been interpreted primarily with electron trapping and de-trapping within TiO₂. Here, we show that charge recombination at the molecular-anchored mesoporous TiO₂/electrolyte interface follows a non-dispersive second-order rate law and exhibit little temperature dependence under appropriate conditions. Furthermore, we show that the same TiO₂ displays dispersive recombination depending on the structure of adsorbed molecules and electrolyte cations, demonstrating that the dispersive recombination is not an intrinsic property of mesoporous TiO₂ and cannot be attributed solely to intra-band charge traps. Instead, the results suggest that electronic coupling disorder of the molecules on the TiO₂ surface is a major origin of the dispersion.
SN - 2041-6520
SN - 2041-6539
ER -