Subpicosecond photoinduced electron transfer from conjugated polymers to functionalized fullerenes

We report time-resolved excited state absorption measurements which demonstrate subpicosecond photoinduced electron transfer using soluble derivatives of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) as donors blended with a functionalized fullerene (methanofullerene) as acceptor. The subpicosecond photoinduced absorption spectra of the polymer/methanofullerene blends show that electron transfer from the donor to the acceptor occurs within a picosecond of photoexcitation of the conjugated polymer. Precise determination of the electron transfer dynamics was obtained by monitoring the dichroic ratio. The charge separated state is metastable and persists into the millisecond time domain, yielding an asymmetry of 10 orders of magnitude between the forward and reverse electron transfer times. The increased miscibility of the functionalized methanofullerene with the conjugated polymer is important for preparation of films with sufficiently high acceptor concentrations for practical devices based on photoinduced charge separation.