Entry requirements

120 credits including 90 credits Chemistry or equivalent. The courses Spectroscopy, 10 credits and Chemical Bonding and Computational Chemistry, 10 credits, or equivalent, are recommended.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course the student should be able to

• describe and explain common photochemical and photophysical processes and mechanisms with suitable theoretical models, and apply established experimental methods for the investigation of these processes
• describe the interaction of excited states with their surroundings and analyse photoinduced electron transfer and excitation energy transfer with quantitative models
• describe the structure and function of photosynthetic reaction centres, and explain the function of photosynthetic antenna systems
• describe photoinduced processes in semiconductors and at molecule-semiconductor interfaces, and explain how these can be used for photophysical energy conversion and in photocatalysis
• describe and explain the environmental impact of atmospheric photochemistry, photodamage in biological systems, and therapeutic applications of photochemistry

Content

Absorption, excited states, fluorescence, phosphorescence, vibronic coupling, relaxation phenomena, solvent effects.

Electron and energy transfer, isomerisation and dissociation reactions. Norrish type I and II reactions, potential energy surfaces, conical intersections.

The solar spectrum, antennas, reaction centres, photoprocesses in organic, inorganic, and sensitized solar cells. Excitons, polarons, solitons, semiconductor junctions, photocurrent and photovoltage, quantum efficiencies.

Photocatalysis, photodamage and repair, DNA, photodynamic therapy.

Atmospheric chemistry, reaction dynamics, metal complexes, higher spin states, applied photochemistry.

Instruction

Lectures, problem solving classes, demonstrations and laboratory exercises.

Assessment

Written or/and oral examination at the end of the course, 8 credits. The laboratory course corresponds to 2 credits.