Fullerene C(70)/porphyrin hybrid nanoarchitectures: single-cocrystal nanoribbons with ambipolar charge transport properties

In recent years, supramolecular cocrystals containing organic donors and acceptors have been explored as active components in organic field-effect transistors (FETs). Herein, we report the synthesis of novel single-cocrystal nanoribbons with ambipolar charge transport characteristics from C(70) and 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)porphyrin (3,5-TPP) in a 3 : 2 ratio. The C(70)/3,5-TPP nanoribbons exhibited a new strong absorption band in the near-infrared region, indicating the presence of charge-transfer interactions between C(70) and 3,5-TPP in the cocrystals. We elucidated the mechanism of the charge-transport properties of the nanoribbons using photoemission yield spectroscopy in air and theoretical calculations. A strong interaction between porphyrins in the one-dimensional porphyrin chains formed in C(70)/3,5-TPP nanoribbons, which was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, plays a crucial role in their hole transport properties.