Electrophoretic deposition of donor–acceptor nanostructures on electrodes for molecular photovoltaics

Electrophoretic deposition of donor–acceptor nanostructures onto electrodes is reviewed in terms of light-to-electrical energy conversion. Various donors and acceptors and their composites have been deposited electrophoretically onto a nanostructured SnO₂ or TiO₂ electrode which exhibits photocurrent generation. In particular, bottom-up self-organization of porphyrin and fullerene molecules onto the nanostructured SnO₂ electrodes has led to highly efficient photocurrent generation with an incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of up to 60%. Such examples will give us many valuable insights into the design of organic molecular electronics including solar cells, organic transistors, and light-emitting devices.