Abstract— Photoinduced electron transfer in lamellar composites of chlorophyll a and p‐chloranil has been shown to lead to a voltaic effect. The photovoltage spectral response peaks at the absorption peak of chlorophyll in the red region, indicating that chlorophyll itself is the light absorbing species. Maximum power output of the system is approximately 10‐15 W. A dependence of photovoltage on the square of the incident intensity suggests a bi‐excitonic mechanism for charge separation.
Dark conductivity and photovoltaic effects have been investigated in thin film samples of chlorophyll a. Samples were fabricated by depositing monomolecular layers of chlorophyll a on to CORducting glass and metal substrates. The dependence of the dark current on temperature and voltage in 10 monolayer samples at low voltages (< 500 mV) is consistent with a conductivity tunnelling process. At higher voltages, the conductivity characteristics are consistent with conductivity tunnelling, Schottky emission and the Frenkel-Poole effect. An enhanced photovoltaic effect is found in chlorophyll a a m s (100 monolayers) composited with electron acceptor and donor materials. The results are discussed in terms of energy migration in photosynthetic units.
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