Photovoltaic Properties of Polymer Composites with a Tetranuclear Copper Complex

Photovoltaic and photoconductive properties of styrene–nonyl-methacrylate copolymer and poly(N-epoxypropylcarbazole) film composites doped with the tetranuclear metal complex Cu4L4(OCH3)4 (L– = N,N′-dibenzyl-N″-trichloroacetyltriamidophosphate) and a sensitizer, i.e., an organic compound with intramolecular charge transfer, were investigated. It was found that these composites had hole-type photoconductivity in the visible spectral range. The internal photoelectric effect was determined by the photogeneration of charge carriers from the metal complex and sensitizer. The kinetics of formation and relaxation of photogenerated charge carriers were studied using ESR. It was concluded that metal-complex molecules in the polymer composite increased the efficiency of photogeneration of nonequilibrium charge carriers and affected the composite photovoltaic properties.