A new molecular photovoltaic system based on fullerene and lutein (a natural carotenoid species) co-assembled in self-assembled hybrid bilayers of alkanethiols and phospholipids on gold electrode is reported. First, a self-assembled monolayers (SAM) of alkanethiol is formed on gold, and then, liposomes containing photoactive fullerenes and lutein are incubated on top of SAM to form hybrid bilayer membranes (HBMs). Either anodic or cathodic photocurrent generation can be obtained with this system, when ascorbate (anodic) or methyl violgen/oxygen (cathodic) is used as a sacrificial electron donor/acceptor respectively. More importantly, at loadings of 1-3 mol %, the photoinduced electron transfer between lutein and fullerene can effectively compete with the fast relaxation of excited lutein, resulting in a significant modulation of the photocurrents generated by the co-assembled fullerenes; whereas, the system containing lutein alone is found to be inefficient in generating photocurrent.

Molecular photovoltaic system based on fullerenes and carotenoids co-assembled in lipid/alkanethiol hybrid bilayers

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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