Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.118, No.49, 14442-14451, 2014
Ionic Liquid Dependence of Triplet-Sensitized Photon Upconversion
Photon upconversion (UC) is a technology used to convert wasted lower energy photons to usable higher energy photons. Triplet-sensitized UC based on the triplettriplet annihilation (TTA) of organic molecules has recently received attention because of its applicability to noncoherent sunlight. Among the various media proposed for this UC, ionic liquids (ILs) are practically advantageous because of their nonvolatility and nonflammability. However, from previous studies, the efficiency of UC (Phi(UC)) has been found to depend on the ILs employed. In this article, systematic investigations were carried out on samples made using more than 10 kinds of ILs, all of which were purified before sample fabrication to enhance data reliability. Several clear tendencies were found, and they were all related to the viscosity of the ILs. We also found that the magnitude of their solvatochromic shifts did not correlate to these trends. These results show that the dynamic aspects of the molecules influence the kinetics that govern the magnitude of Phi(UC). Along with related discussions and interpretations, these results should provide a guideline toward increasing the Phi(UC).