LIGHT UP-CONVERSION IN POLYMERIC SYSTEMS
Contact: Dr. Yoan Simon
The possibility to design, produce and characterize materials capable of harnessing and modulating light has some major implications in a variety domains ranging from energy to data signaling and storage to biological applications. In particular, our group has been interested in the development of innovative polymeric materials for light up-conversion and, more specifically, by means of triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA). Delayed fluorescence by TTA offers a variety of advantages with respect to other up-converting methods (i.e. second-harmonic generation, two-photon absorption,…), notably because it is efficient even at low powers and because it allows for the use of non-coherent light irradiation. Consequently, in recent years, up-conversion by triplet-triplet annihilation has drawn a lot of attention. While a lot of the literature deals with the TTA-UC in solution, our group in collaboration with Prof. F. N. Castellano, Bowling Green University (USA), has been among the first to successfully observe this phenomenon in solid matrices.
Embedding those systems into polymeric matrices is particularly relevant for practical reasons (containment, processing, device size,…). Nevertheless, its implementation in solid substrates poses some critical issues notably in terms of efficiencies and fundamental understanding of the processes at stake. That is why, our group has spurred on a new endeavor to develop and investigate novel strategies to perform light up-conversion in polymers. While researching the conditions for maximum efficiencies and the underlying principle leading to it, we are looking at a variety of different systems including blends, supramolecular approaches and covalent systems. Beyond the mere scientific study, we also aim at discovering and devising new avenues for the incorporation of these systems into applied systems, namely photovoltaics, bioimaging and photochemistry. We believe that this integrative approach, combining fundamental research and technological exploration will enable us to attain efficient polymeric systems for light up-conversion.
