Molecular Engineering for Solar Energy Conversion and Lighting Materials

Photoinduced energy- and electron transfer, together with luminescence phenomena, are basic physical processes that play a key role for several applications in everyday technologies, from solar panels to smartphone displays. Our group makes fundamental research on solar energy conversion and lighting, focusing on the design, preparation and characterization of suitably engineered molecules, metal complexes, supramolecular arrays and nanomaterials. Herein, some of our recent results in these fields will be briefly illustrated, with particular emphasis on (i) multicomponent systems containing electron donors and acceptors that mimic the fundamental processes of natural photosynthesis and (ii) iridium(III) and copper(I) luminescent metal complexes that can be utilized as active materials in light emitting electrochemical cells (LECs), an alternative device concept with respect to OLEDs.