title: An artificial light-harvesting array constructed from multiple Bodipy dyes.
abstract: An artificial light-harvesting array, comprising 21 discrete chromophores arranged in a rational manner, has been synthesized and characterized fully. The design strategy follows a convergent approach that leads to a molecular-scale funnel, having an effective chromophore concentration of 0.6 M condensed into ca. 55 nm(3), able to direct the excitation energy to a focal point. A cascade of electronic energy-transfer steps occurs from the rim to the focal point, with the rate slowing down as the exciton moves toward its ultimate target. Situated midway along each branch of the V-shaped array, two chromophoric relays differ only slightly in terms of their excitation energies, and this situation facilitates reverse energy transfer. Thus, the excitation energy becomes spread around the array, a situation reminiscent of a giant holding pattern for the photon that can sample many different chromophores before being trapped by the terminal acceptor. At high photon flux under conditions of relatively slow off-load to a device, such as a solar cell, electronic energy transfer encounters one or more barriers that hinder forward progress of the exciton and thereby delays arrival of the second photon. Preliminary studies have addressed the ability of the array to function as a sensitizer for amorphous silicon solar cells.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Organique et Spectroscopies Avancées (ICPEES-LCOSA), UMR 7515 au CNRS, Ecole Européenne de Chimie, Polymères et Matériaux, Université de Strasbourg, 25 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 02, France. ziessel@unistra.fr
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ziessel
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ulrich
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haefele
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harriman
mesh_terms: D032701:Biomimetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001896:Boron Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D008027:Light; D010788:Photosynthesis; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: C095489:4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene; D001896:Boron Compounds; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes