Rapid Energy Transfer Enabling Control of Emission Polarization in Perylene Bisimide Donor-Acceptor Triads.
Materials showing rapid intramolecular energy transfer and polarization switching are of interest for both their fundamental photophysics and potential for use in real-world applications. Here, we report two donor-acceptor-donor triad dyes based on perylene-bisimide subunits, with the long axis of the donors arranged either parallel or perpendicular to that of the central acceptor. We observe rapid energy transfer (<2 ps) and effective polarization control in both dye molecules in solution. A distributed-dipole Förster model predicts the excitation energy transfer rate for the linearly arranged triad but severely underestimates it for the orthogonal case. We show that the rapid energy transfer arises from a combination of through-bond coupling and through-space transfer between donor and acceptor units. As they allow energy cascading to an excited state with controllable polarization, these triad dyes show high potential for use in luminescent solar concentrator devices.
†Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.
Christopher
C
Menelaou
‡Functional Organic Materials and Devices, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Jeroen
J
ter Schiphorst
‡Functional Organic Materials and Devices, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Amol M
AM
Kendhale
†Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.
Patrick
P
Parkinson
‡Functional Organic Materials and Devices, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Michael G
MG
Debije
‡Functional Organic Materials and Devices, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Albertus P H J
AP
Schenning
†Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom.
Laura M
LM
Herz
energy transfer; luminescent solar concentrators; perylene bisimide