Abstract
We designed and synthesized a novel class of highly photoactive C60(> CPAF-Cn) nanostructures for their potential uses as photonic materials, using CPAF-Cn chromophore as the light-harvesting antenna. It is a part of our research effort on developing C60(> DPAF-Cn)-based nonlinear photonic organics. We extended the structural modification by chemical conversion of the keto group in C60(> DPAF-Cn) compound to a 1,1-dicyanoethylenyl moiety with stronger electron-withdrawing ability that resulted in a largely increased electronic polarization of the chromophore conjugate. Structural characterization of several C60(> CPAF-Cn) containing variable alkyl sidechains was made by various spectroscopic methods. Interestingly, the chemical modification leads to a large bathochromic shift of the major absorption band of C60(> CPAF-Cn) in the visible spectrum up to 600 nm and extending the photoresponsive capability of C60–DCE–DPAF nanostructures to longer red wavelengths than the parent C60(> DPAF-Cn) materials.
Acknowledgments
We thank Air Force Office of Scientific Research for funding under the contract number FA9550-05-1-0154.