Immobilized Polythiophene-fullerene on Surfaces: Beyond Photovoltaics

Abstract

Surfaces coated with polythiophene-fullerene, particularly poly(3-hexylthiophene)-Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT-PCBM) emerged as a gold standard for fabrication of photovoltaic devices of bulk heterojunction type. Since, photocatalytic dye degradation has a similar initiation mechanism driven by electron-hole production under sunlight, the surface was used as a reusable photocatalytic "chip" to degrade polluting organic dyes. Detailed investigations were carried out on various factors affecting the efficacy.