Layer-by-layer construction of nanostructured porphyrin-fullerene electrodes

The fabrication of high quality, robust, and photoactive ITO electrodes is reported. Electrostatic and van der Waals interactions have been used for the step-by-step deposition of layers containing a fullerene-porphyrin dyad as the active layer. The new electrodes give rise to improved light harvesting features in the visible, with absorbances as high as 0.2 (i.e., at the Soret band of H2P) for a monolayer coverage and IPCEs of 0.38% and 0.6% under anaerobic and aerobic conditions, respectively.