Light harvesting excitation

New natural polymers based on synthesis from renewable resources, improved recyclability based on retrosynthesis to reusable precursors, and molecular suicide switches to initiate biodegradation on demand are the exciting areas in polymer science. In the area of biomolecular materials, new materials for implants with improved durability and biocompatibility, light-harvesting materials based on biomimicry of photosynthetic systems, and biosensors for analysis and artificial enzymes for bioremediation will present the breakthrough opportunities. Finally, in the field of electronics and photonics, the new challenges are molecular switches, transistors, and other electronic components molecular photoad-dressable memory devices and ferroelectrics and ferromagnets based on nonmetals. 

Ruban, A.V. and Horton, P. 1992. Mechanism of ApH-dependent dissipation of absorbed excitation energy by photosynthetic membranes. I Spectroscopic analysis of isolated light harvesting complexes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1102 30-38. 

Trinkunas, G., J. L. Herek, T. Polfvka, V. Sundstrom, and T. Pullerits. 2001. Exciton delocalization probed by excitation annihilation in the light-harvesting antenna LH2. Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 4167 4170. 

Fig. 16 Addition of 0.017-nmol aliquots of a rhodamine B-labeled streptavidin and b Texas Red-X-labeled streptavidin to 1.51 nmol of 43. Energy transfer observed in both cases with amplified emission of the dyes to the light-harvesting conjugated polymers. Direct excitation of the dyes at 575 and 585 nm correspond to 0.100 nmol of streptavidin.

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