Langmuir–Blodgett and layer-by-layer films of photoactive fullerene–porphyrin dyads

The fabrication of high quality, robust and photoactive ITO electrodes—in the form of well-defined two- and three-dimensional films—is reported following the Langmuir–Schäfer (LS) and the layer-by-layer (LBL) methods. In the LS approach C60-NiP multilayers were transferred from the air–water interface, while the LBL approach utilizes electrostatic and van der Waals interactions for the step-by-step deposition of individual C60-NiP molecules out of solution. These complementary techniques allow control over the thickness and composition of the films at a molecular level and guarantee the specific alignment and the orientation of the incorporated donor–acceptor system. Modified ITO electrodes were probed in photocurrent experiments, in which the LBL-modified electrodes reveal smaller photon to current conversion efficiencies relative to the LS-modified electrodes.