Transient Absorption Spectroscopy: Probing the Ultrafast Dynamics in Nanomaterial Complex Systems

Over the past two decades transient absorption spectroscopy has provided a powerful tool to unravel the excited state dynamics of nanomaterials, which has greatly propelled the development of nanoscience, as mechanistic studies allow a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the structure–function relationships and various interactions in nanomaterial complex systems. In this chapter, we present an overview of transient absorption spectroscopy, with focus on the principles, experimental setup, data acquisition and general data analysis. The chapter continues with a detailed discussion of the ultrafast dynamics of two nanomaterial complex systems (colloidal metal nanoparticles and metal nanoclusters) probed by transient absorption spectroscopy. We attempt to convey how the application of transient absorption spectroscopy can answer many of the fundamental questions about the origin and interactions of these fascinating nanomaterials in nanoscience.