Novel Roles of Metal Ions in Layered Self‐assembled Films of Polynuclear Complexes on Their Photoinduced Electron Transfer Properties

Three metal ion bridged self-assembled (SA) films of cis-di(thiocyanato)-bis(2,2′-bipyridyl-4,4′-dicarboxylate) ruthenium were fabricated and characterized by contact angle, UV spectra, cyclic voltammetry and XPS. Their photoinduced electron transfer properties (PETP) were examined. Among the titled systems, the highest steady anodic photocurrent of 1773–1843 nA/cm2 and the highest quantum yield of 3.2% were achieved. The effects of incident light intensity, bias voltage, and electron donor were also studied. The possible mechanism of electron transfer was proposed. The results reveal that different metal ion in SA films could affect significantly the photoinduced electron transfer property. Our experimental results clearly show that bridging metal ions can play both functional and structural roles in these self-assembled systems. This method of forming functional films can provide a new approach to regulate the property of similar systems.