Photoluminescence of melanin-based nanocomposites with fullerene derivative

This paper presents the study of the photoluminescent properties of molecular compositions consisting of melanin and an electron-acceptor material – fullerene derivative, [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). These molecular compositions have not been studied well and are promising for molecular electronics of natural materials, in particular, for organic solar cells. The novelty of this work relates to the study of photoluminescence spectra obtained for these molecular compositions and nanocomposites in various solvents (chloroform, acetonitrile, and toluene) as well as in a polystyrene matrix; these studies were carried out at various, in particular, liquid helium (4.2 K), temperatures. The obtained results allowed us to ascertain mechanisms of the state of aggregation and donor-acceptor interaction between melanin and PCBM.