Abstrakt

Electronic energy transfer and the migration of electrons generated via photoinduced electron transfer are key processes for the conversion of solar energy in natural photosynthetic systems. The proper arrangement of chromophores, electron donors and acceptors, or molecular wires on the scale of nanometers is a prerequisite for creating synthetic systems capable of achieving the high energy conversion efficiencies seen in nature. Ordered polymer layers that are adsorbed-to, or grafted-from, surfaces can serve as systems for harvesting of light and directional transfer of energy and electrons in confined environments. Moreover, ordered layers can act as templates for the desired ordering of different photoactive nanoobjects necessary for the development of optoelectronic devices, molecular electronics, and nanosensors. Herein, various macromolecular strategies are reviewed for synthesizing and arranging polymer chains on surfaces to improve the transport of electrons and excitation energy at interfaces. Specifically, the versatile layer-by-layer assembly method for forming thin films from polyelectrolytes and other charged nanoobjects, and the formation of surface-tethered polymer brushes, especially conjugated ones, with various chain architectures are presented together with their applications. The impact of various macromolecular architectures and compositions are discussed in relation to the performance of the polymer and polymer-templated films. Further development of the field could focus on precise engineering of macromolecules with complex architectures, precise positioning of active groups along the chains, towards mimicking the natural systems and their performance.