Photophysical and Photoelectric Properties of 2‐{[4‐(N‐Hexadecyl‐N‐methylamino) phenyl] methylene}‐propanedinitrile

2-{[4-(N-Hexadecyl-N-methylamino) phenyl] methylene}-propanedinitrile (HMAPN) with typical donor-#-acceptor (D-#-A) structure was synthesized. It could be easily assembled into stable films by LB technique. The photophysical properties of HMAPN were investigated in solution and on LB films. The photoelectric properties of HMAPN were examined and the anodic photocurrent of the ITO electrode modified by the monolayer LB film of HMAPN was measured as 835 nA/cm2 under the white light of 218.2 mW/cm2 without bias voltage. The effects of light intensity, bias voltage on the photocurrent were discussed. The possible mechanism of the photocurrent formation was given.