We offer an 18-months postdoctoral position to work on the photophysical mechanism of molecular motors (or more generally photoswitches). You will be responsible and/or participate to the following tasks: • Study of the ground state structure and dynamics at molecular and assembled levels • Characterization of excited-state dynamics at molecular and assembled level • Participation in the supervision of PhDs, engineers, and trainees - restoring the results, communication at international conferences, participation in writing of manuscripts.
Keywords: ultrafast spectroscopy • self-assembling • photoswitches • molecular machines
Boulevard des Aiguillettes
B.P. 70239
54506 Vandoeuvre les Nancy Cedex France
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Retour à la listePost-Doc : Synthesis of New Photosensitizers for CO2 Photoreduction and Carbonylation Reactions
The project focuses on the development of new photosensitizers and catalysts, based on purely organic materials or more abundant metals, for the photoreduction of CO2 to CO. This research, conducted in collaboration with other groups, aims to investigate the catalytic cycle of these new photosensitizers and catalysts, providing insights into the structure-function relationships of these molecular architectures. The ultimate goal is to design more efficient photocatalysts through a rational approach. Key techniques involved in the project include electrochemistry and electronic and vibrational spectroscopy to identify key intermediate species formed during the catalytic cycle. The performance of new catalysts will be evaluated under photocatalytic conditions, focusing on turnover frequency (TOF), turnover number (TON), and selectivity. The CO produced through photoreduction can be utilized in various carbonylation reactions facilitated by catalysis or photocatalysis.
Earth abundant metal-based new generation solar cells
The aim of the project is the development of abundant metal-based light-responsive complexes and their use in DSSCs (Dye-sensitized Solar Cells). Several noble metal complexes (Ru, Ir, Pt) have long been considered as lead compounds due to their ideal photophysical and geometrical properties with power conversion efficiency (PCE) values in the 9-11 % range. Despite these ideal photophysical properties, ruthenium is a scarce metal, toxic and expensive and limits the real-world industrial development of the cells. In consequence, the main goal of our project is the replacement of such expensive metals by cheap and environmentally benign metals in the search for developing low-cost efficient devices, and resource-preserving industrial processes.
The L2CM has recently contributed to the field by investigating different approaches to tune the electronic properties of abundant organoferrous complexes (ANR PhotIron). By combination of chemical synthesis and quantum simulations, the parameters influencing the excited state lifetime of organo-ferrous dyes and their interfacial behaviour after chemisorption on semiconductor have been pointed out. The L2CM and the University of Ferrara in Italy (S. Caramori) are currently leaders in the field of iron-sensitized DSSC cells with a record efficiency of 2% very recently obtained.
In spite of these promising results, the efficiency of the Fe-sensitized DSSCs is still to be improved. In this regard, dye-TiO2 interfacial TD-DFT computations have already shed light on the reasons for such limited performance. Therefore, current synthetic efforts are targeted to overcome these specific aspects with the aim to make organoferrous complexes a genuinely alternative to their ruthenium counterparts.