Moreover, the important advances in manufacturing techniques allow the production of different types of assemblies such as films, ordered monolayers,
nanoparticles, or powder bulk materials, offering a very flexible design for a specific
application. Besides, modern characterization techniques and computational tools
aid the understanding of their final behavior, leaving room for improvement.
Therefore, the combinations, and hence the final properties, are myriad, being of
potential importance for diverse applications ranging from catalysis, lighting, light
trapping, transport and energy conversion, memory devices, photonics and optoelectronics, sensing, diagnostics, drug delivery, and other optical and biomedical
uses.
This book describes examples of different photo-physicochemical processes and
their applications mediated by the supramolecular designs, in which the geometrical
constraint imposed by the shape and size of nanostructured cavities and the specific
interactions determine the conformation, distance, and orientation between
interacting moieties in the ground or excited state. As a result, not only an increase
in the photo-, chemical-, and thermal-resistance of the composites is achieved, but
also a reduction of non-radiative pathways, a suppression of dye aggregation, a
stabilization of metal clusters, a fine-tuning of energy transfer efficiencies, an
activation of photoinduced charge transfer or electron hopping, a precise control of
photochromism properties, or the generation of anisotropic photoresponses to polarized light. Additionally, enhancement of reaction rates and photoproduct selectivity
for several photochemical (intra and inter) reactions in different nanocavities is
attained.
The book is organized by the role of the nanostructures to control such phenomena, which directly and indirectly correlate the photofunctions of the systems. The
first two chapters are focused on the cooperative effect of zeolites when accommodating dyes and subnanometer metal clusters, respectively; the two following ones
exploit MOFs for hosting photoactive guests, non-covalently attached to the voids of
porous MOFs, particularly photochromic dyes by post-synthesis loading and Ru(II)
polyimines by the crystallization inclusion method. The following three chapters are
focused on layered materials, mainly clay minerals, as supports for the intercalation
of chromophores in their interlayer space. Next, a chapter is dedicated to the effect of
organic nanocages (cyclodextrins, cucurbiturils, and octa-acids) on photophysical
activity or photochemical reactions of different photoactive molecules being compared with solutions. The last chapter deals with the synergism between dyes
(fluorophores or photosensitizers) and lanthanide (Ln) based-up conversion
nanoparticles for potential sensing, imaging, and therapy.
The final aim of this book is to introduce the reader to the advances in the field of
photoactive materials based on the combination of photofunctional compounds with
a wide range of nanoporous systems or nanoparticles. The design, synthesis, characterization, and applications of these materials are well addressed. All the authors
have given in their respective chapters an overview and a future vision of these types
vi
Preface
nanoparticles, or powder bulk materials, offering a very flexible design for a specific
application. Besides, modern characterization techniques and computational tools
aid the understanding of their final behavior, leaving room for improvement.
Therefore, the combinations, and hence the final properties, are myriad, being of
potential importance for diverse applications ranging from catalysis, lighting, light
trapping, transport and energy conversion, memory devices, photonics and optoelectronics, sensing, diagnostics, drug delivery, and other optical and biomedical
uses.
This book describes examples of different photo-physicochemical processes and
their applications mediated by the supramolecular designs, in which the geometrical
constraint imposed by the shape and size of nanostructured cavities and the specific
interactions determine the conformation, distance, and orientation between
interacting moieties in the ground or excited state. As a result, not only an increase
in the photo-, chemical-, and thermal-resistance of the composites is achieved, but
also a reduction of non-radiative pathways, a suppression of dye aggregation, a
stabilization of metal clusters, a fine-tuning of energy transfer efficiencies, an
activation of photoinduced charge transfer or electron hopping, a precise control of
photochromism properties, or the generation of anisotropic photoresponses to polarized light. Additionally, enhancement of reaction rates and photoproduct selectivity
for several photochemical (intra and inter) reactions in different nanocavities is
attained.
The book is organized by the role of the nanostructures to control such phenomena, which directly and indirectly correlate the photofunctions of the systems. The
first two chapters are focused on the cooperative effect of zeolites when accommodating dyes and subnanometer metal clusters, respectively; the two following ones
exploit MOFs for hosting photoactive guests, non-covalently attached to the voids of
porous MOFs, particularly photochromic dyes by post-synthesis loading and Ru(II)
polyimines by the crystallization inclusion method. The following three chapters are
focused on layered materials, mainly clay minerals, as supports for the intercalation
of chromophores in their interlayer space. Next, a chapter is dedicated to the effect of
organic nanocages (cyclodextrins, cucurbiturils, and octa-acids) on photophysical
activity or photochemical reactions of different photoactive molecules being compared with solutions. The last chapter deals with the synergism between dyes
(fluorophores or photosensitizers) and lanthanide (Ln) based-up conversion
nanoparticles for potential sensing, imaging, and therapy.
The final aim of this book is to introduce the reader to the advances in the field of
photoactive materials based on the combination of photofunctional compounds with
a wide range of nanoporous systems or nanoparticles. The design, synthesis, characterization, and applications of these materials are well addressed. All the authors
have given in their respective chapters an overview and a future vision of these types
vi
Preface