Electrochemically deposited poly(selenophene)-fullerene photoactive layer: tuning of the spectroscopic properties towards visible light–driven generation of singlet oxygen

Abstract A selenophene-containing fullerene dyad (C60Se) was electrochemically co-deposited with bis-selenophene (BisSe) to form a visible light absorbing poly(selenophene) layer with incorporated fullerene photosensitizers on platinum (Pt) or indium-tin oxide (ITO) substrates. The resulting photoactive films (P(C60Se_BisSe)) were characterized by cyclic voltammetry, UV-Vis, IR, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. The efficiency of P(C60Se_BisSe) towards singlet oxygen photogeneration was investigated by applying reactions with chemical traps, i.e. α-terpinene and 1,3–diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF), monitored by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The composition of the electropolymerized layer was controlled by varying the monomers ratio in the feed solution and it had a strong influence on the spectroscopic and photosensitizing properties of the deposited film. It has been shown that the efficiency of the visible light-driven singlet oxygen generation can be increased by optimizing the ratio between C60 photosensitizers and organic units in the layer.