Photoluminescence Studies on the Supramolecular Interactions Between a Pyrollidinofullerene and Zinc‐Phthalocyanine Used in Organic Solar Cells

Abstract

We present a study of supramolecular interactions between a highly soluble pyrollidinofullerene bearing three chelating pyridyl groups (PyF) and zinc‐phthalocyanine (ZnPc). Photoluminescence quenching shows a non‐diffusive concentration dependency, which can be explained by the formation of a non‐covalently bonded supramolecular dyad. A further indication for such a complexation is observed by a significantly increased solubility of ZnPc in CH₂Cl₂ upon addition of PyF. Solar cells fabricated from a thin evaporated layer of ZnPc and a spincoated layer of PyF show short‐circuit current densities of approximately 4 mA/cm² with open circuit voltages around 400 mV under 100 mW/cm² simulated AM1.5 illumination.

Keywords:

• Fullerene
• phthalocyanine
• organic solar cell
• complex
• photoluminescence
• quenching

Acknowledgments

S. Guenes, L. Nguyen, and B. Singh are acknowledged for valuable discussions, G. Dennler and H.‐J. Prall for developing the spincoating technique. Funding was provided by the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) and a bilateral collaboration agreement between Austria (by OEAD) and the Russian Federation (RFBR grants Nos. 04‐03‐32870a and 03‐03‐20003BSTC_a).