Porphyrin ribbons transport charge with no resistance

Chains of fused porphyrin molecules are capable of transmitting charge over distances of several nanometres with ‘perfect’ conductance. These porphyrin nanoribbons could form the basis of electronic circuits built on the molecular scale.

Finding ways to transport charge efficiently has been a key problem for researchers aiming to design molecular-scale circuitry. Previous studies on π-conjugated molecules have generally shown an exponential decrease in conductance as the length of a molecule increases.