The possibility to employ carbon nanodots (CNDs) in solar devices was exploited by combining them with a fulleropyrrolidine derivative (FP2). The interaction between the two species was promoted by the presence of opposite electrostatic charges on CNDs (negatively charged) and FP2 (positively charged). The supramolecular dyad CNDs/FP2 generation was induced at the air/water interface of a Langmuir trough: water soluble CNDs were dissolved in the subphase and FP2 chloroform solution was spread on the subphase; the electrostatic interaction promoted the formation of the supramolecular adduct FP2/CNDs, which was then transferred onto solid substrates. Photo-induced charge transfer was promoted in the FP2/CNDs dyad and we demonstrated that the presence of CNDs increased the short-circuit current density, under light illumination, of a porphyrin–FP2/CNDs thin film by about 300% when compared with a more traditional porphyrin–FP2 solar device.

Title

Nanoscale

Publisher

Royal Society of Chemistry

Publisher Country

United Kingdom

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

Impact Factor

6.97

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

11

Year

2019

Pages

7414-7423