Selective adsorption of C60 in the supramolecular nanopatterns of donor–acceptor porphyrin derivatives

The nanostructure of active layers consisting of donor and acceptor molecules is responsible for the separation and transfer processes of charge carriers, which may result in different photoelectric conversion efficiencies of organic photovoltaic cells (OPVCs). Therefore, intensive study on the relationships among nanostructures, intermolecular interactions, and molecular chemical skeletons is necessary for preparing controlled nanostructures of active layers by designing photovoltaic molecules. In this research, the self-assembled nanopatterns of three (DPP-ZnP-E)2-based molecules on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface were probed by scanning tunneling microscopy and analyzed by density functional theory calculations. The results indicated that different bridges, diethynylene, diethynylene-dithienyl, and diethynylene-phenylene, in (DPP-ZnP-E)2-based molecules not only made a difference to intermolecular interactions and cooperated with molecule–substrate interactions, consequently affecting the pa...