Zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) is shown to form charge transfer complex with gold nanoparticles (AuNps) in toluene. Significant enhancement in quantum yield of charge-separation is observed for ZnPc-AuNp conjugate. Role of AuNp over the non-covalent interaction between ZnPc and [6,6]-phenyl C-71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM) is studied by various spectroscopic tools. The strongest binding between PC70BM and ZnPc is confirmed from the evaluation of binding constant (K) as well as estimation of heat of formation value for this complex obtained from theoretical calculations. Both dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscope measurements reveal formation of particles ranging in smaller dimension. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.