Design of pi-conjugated organic materials for one-dimensional energy transport in nanochannels.
Various end-substituted distyrylbenzenes have been synthesized to serve as guest molecules in inclusion compounds to promote efficient energy transport along one-dimensional channels. Their optical and photophysical properties have been characterized at both experimental and theoretical levels. All molecules display a large transition dipole moment between the ground state and lowest excited state and hence a short radiative lifetime (on the order of 1-2 ns). They also exhibit a large spectral overlap between the emission and absorption spectra, which enables efficient energy transport between molecules arranged in a head-to-tail configuration in nanochannels. Hopping rates on the order of 10(12) s(-1) are calculated at a full quantum-chemical level; this is much larger than the radiative lifetimes and opens the way for energy migration over large distances. Changes in the nature of the terminal substituents are found to modulate the optical properties weakly but to impact significantly the energy transfer rates.
Sancho-García
Juan Carlos
JC
Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials, Center for Research in Molecular Electronics and Photonics, University of Mons-Hainaut, Place du Parc 20, B-7000 Mons, Belgium.
Brédas
Jean-Luc
JL
Beljonne
David
D
Cornil
Jérôme
J
Martínez-Alvarez
Roberto
R
Hanack
Michael
M
Poulsen
Lars
L
Gierschner
Johannes
J
Mack
Hans-Georg
HG
Egelhaaf
Hans-Joachim
HJ
Oelkrug
Dieter
D