Photo-induced charge carrier dynamics in nanostructured hybrid systems for solar energy conversion

Inorganic-organic hybrid nanostructured systems show great potential for developing high efficiency/low cost solar energy conversion schemes (e.g. solar cells and fuels). While these novel technologies can be produced and manufactured at low cost, they are still unable to compete with commercially available approaches in terms of efficiency. In order to circumvent this gap, a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of charge carrier dynamics in hybrid systems is imperative. In this thesis we have employed time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy (TRTS) to investigate the nature of the photo-induced conductivity in two relevant systems for solar energy conversion: nanographenes-sensitized metal oxide films, and two-dimensional electrically conductive metal-organic frameworks. The results and findings contained in this thesis represented a modest contribution to the field and corroborated the intricate interplay between carrier dynamics and chemical composition in hybrid systems. Further efforts on tuning interfacial and bulk dynamics in these systems will set the path towards achieving high photo-conversion efficiency in these emerging technologies.