Porphyrin and fullerene-based photovoltaic devices

We have developed molecular photovoltaic devices where fullerenes and porphyrins as building blocks are self-assembled onto an ITO electrode. Anodic photocurrent generation was observed when the ITO electrode modified with porphyrin–fullerene dyads was illuminated in the presence of ascorbic acid (AsA) as an electron sacrificer. Photoinduced multistep electron transfer mechanism at the ITO surface is proposed for the photocurrent generation. These results provide basic information for the development of nanostructured molecular photovoltaic devices.