title: POLARON DYNAMICS. Long-lived photoinduced polaron formation in conjugated polyelectrolyte-fullerene assemblies.
abstract: The efficiency of biological photosynthesis results from the exquisite organization of photoactive elements that promote rapid movement of charge carriers out of a critical recombination range. If synthetic organic photovoltaic materials could mimic this assembly, charge separation and collection could be markedly enhanced. We show that micelle-forming cationic semiconducting polymers can coassemble in water with cationic fullerene derivatives to create photoinduced electron-transfer cascades that lead to exceptionally long-lived polarons. The stability of the polarons depends on the organization of the polymer-fullerene assembly. Properly designed assemblies can produce separated polaronic charges that are stable for days or weeks in aqueous solution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA.
authors.forename: Rachel C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA.
authors.forename: Amy S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kilbride
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Knutson
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA.
authors.forename: Lekshmi Sudha
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, and the Biomedical Engineering Program, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Toso
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA.
authors.forename: J Reddy
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Challa
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, and the Biomedical Engineering Program, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Z Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA. tolbert@chem.ucla.edu schwartz@chem.ucla.edu rubin@chem.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA. The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. tolbert@chem.ucla.edu schwartz@chem.ucla.edu rubin@chem.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1569, USA. The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. tolbert@chem.ucla.edu schwartz@chem.ucla.edu rubin@chem.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Sarah H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Tolbert
mesh_terms: D004579:Electron Transport; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D010788:Photosynthesis; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012666:Semiconductors
chemical_list: D037741:Fullerenes; D011108:Polymers