A Carbon Nanotube Binding BODIPY‐C₆₀ Nano Tweezer: Charge Stabilization through Sequential Electron Transfer

Abstract Electron donor–acceptor (DA) hybrids comprised of single‐wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are promising functional materials for light energy conversion. However, the DA hybrids built on SWCNTs have failed to reveal the much‐sought long‐lived charge separation (CS) due to the close proximity of the DA entities facilitating charge recombination. Here, we address this issue and report an elegant strategy to build multi‐modular DA hybrids capable of producing long‐lived CS states. For this, a nano tweezer featuring V‐shape configured BODIPY was synthesized to host SWCNTs of different diameters via π‐stacking. Supported by spectral, electrochemical, and computational studies, the established energy scheme revealed the possibility of sequential electron transfer. Systematic pump‐probe studies covering wide spatial and temporal scales provided evidence of CS from the initial 1 BODIPY* ultimately resulting in C 60 ⋅ − ‐BODIPY‐SWCNT⋅ + CS states of lifetimes in the 20‐microsecond range.