Polymer photovoltaic cells based on conjugated polymer–fullerene composites

Recently, upon mixing buckminsterfullerene, C60, into semiconducting conjugated polymers, an interesting photophysical phenomenon has been discovered. The photoinduced electron transfer from semiconducting polymers onto C60 is reversible, ultrafast with a quantum efficiency approaching unity, and metastable. This photoinduced electron transfer leads to a number of potentially interesting applications, including photodetectors and photovoltaic cells. In this work, we briefly present the photophysics and associated device applications of conjugated polymer–fullerene composites.