Photosensitization and the photocurrent switching effect in nanocrystalline titanium dioxide functionalized with iron(II) complexes: A comparative study

Selected iron(II) complexes (ferrocene, ferrocenylboronic acid, hexacyanoferrate(II)) have been used as photosensitizers of titanium dioxide. Various types of electronic interactions between the surface complex and the semiconducting support are reflected in different yields of photocurrent generated upon visible-light irradiation and different efficiencies of the photosensitization effect. The studied systems, showing the photocurrent switching upon changes of electrode potential and energy of photons (the PEPS effect), are good models of simple photoelectrochemical logic devices. The mechanism of photosensitization and photocurrent switching is discussed with respect to the type of surface-complex-support interaction. Quantum-mechanical calculations support the proposed mechanisms.