Efficient electron transfer from chlorophyll-a to TiO2 in polyaniline-interconnected grana-like nano-matrix

Efficient electron transfer from chlorophyll-a (CHL-a) to TiO₂ nanoparticle in polyaniline (PANI) grana like nanoporous matrix is evident from drastic decrease in CHL-a emission intensity in steady sate fluorescence and shorter fluorescence life time of CHL-a [which gradually decreases with TiO₂ conc.] in composites. Delocalized polaronic peaks in UV-Vis spectra are only present in composites having all three counterparts. The absence of any overlap between the emission spectra of CHL-a (675 nm) and the absorption spectrum of TiO₂ (365 nm), the well-established electron accepting nature of TiO₂ (in presence of excited electron donors) coupled with the ∆G_ET value of -3.17ev reveal that the quenching mechanism in this work involves electron transfer [with 37.5% efficiency] and focuses its probable application in DSSC.