Efficient MOF-Sensitized Solar Cells Featuring Solvothermally Grown [100]-Oriented Pillared Porphyrin Framework-11 Films on ZnO/FTO Surfaces

Owing to their abilities to assemble and organize a large number of redox and photoactive components in highly ordered periodic fashion, crystalline porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have the potential to execute myriad complex functions, including charge transport and light to electrical energy conversion when the required conditions are fulfilled. Herein, we demonstrate an unprecedented spontaneous solvothermal growth of precisely [100]-oriented pillared porphyrin framework-11 (PPF-11) films featuring vertically aligned Zn-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (ZnTCPP) walls and horizontally aligned 2,2′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridine beams attached to annealed ZnO–fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) surfaces and their remarkable photovoltaic performance in liquid-junction solar cells. The [100]-oriented PPF-11/ZnO–FTO photoanodes displayed excellent photovoltaic response (short-circuit current (JSC): 4.65 mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage (VOC): 470 mV, power conversion efficiency: 0.86%) that easily outperformed al...