Controlling carrier dynamics at the nanoscale

Chemical Physics xxx (2016) xxx–xxx

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Preface

Controlling carrier dynamics at the nanoscale

This Special issue is motivated by the occasion of the International Conference on Charge Carrier Dynamics at the Nanoscale (CCDNano), held in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) in September 2015. As chairs for the CCDNano meeting, we aimed at bringing together experts from different scientific fields in order to trigger interdisciplinary discussions and collaborations; the ultimate goal of the conference was to serve as a platform to advance and help unifying methodologies and theories from different research subfields. We also aimed at a deeper understanding of charge dynamics to contribute to the development of improved or novel nanostructured devices. This special issue keeps that spirit, and intends to provide an overview of ongoing research efforts regarding charge carrier dynamics at the nanoscale. Unraveling the mechanism and rate of charge carrier transfer taking place at the nanoscale is of pivotal interest for a variety of different scientific disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, engineering and material science. Over the last decades cross-fertilization among these research fields has played an important role for developing different theories describing charge transfer and transport phenomena. This accomplishment has allowed moving these multidisciplinary enterprises from the fundamental discovery of novel behaviors in test bed systems, to that of fine control of carrier dynamics at the nanoscale; e.g., by targeting a specific functionality in complex organic-inorganic hybrid nano-heterostructures at high efficiency. From a practical point of view, the control of charge transfer, recombination and transport in functional material nano-architectures and interfaces represents one of the key research contemporary topics for the further optimization of novel nanostructured-based applications; in applications as widespread as solar cells, batteries, sensors, molecular electronics, catalysis, etc.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemphys.2016.09.012 0301-0104/Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.

The articles included in this special issue of Chemical Physics present a compelling overview of theoretical and experimental efforts carried out on different research sub-disciplines regarding the control of carrier dynamics at the nanoscale; the selected papers clearly illustrate how fundamental studies are – generally speaking – designed with the ultimate aim of reaching improved performances on novel nanostructured device applications. Although the body of knowledge regarding controlling charge transfer and transport at the nanoscale is mature enough to have allowed certain level of development on device engineering, major challenges for both theory and experiment still exist. For boosting the efficiency of future nanostructured devices dealing with solutions for e.g., energy, health or electronics, further work is needed regarding the measurement and modelling of carrier dynamics under non-equilibrium and real device operation conditions. We are sure that in the years to come this will be achieved and catalyzed when diluting the boundaries between chemistry, physics, biology and engineering concerning unraveling the nature of charge transfer, recombination and transport processes taking place at the nanoscale. Enrique Cánovas Mischa Bonn Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Department of Molecular Spectroscopy, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany E-mail addresses: [email protected] (E. Cánovas), [email protected] (M. Bonn) Available online xxxx