The Future of Photochemistry

It is probably a vain exercise to try to precisely sketch which will be the development of photochemistry, as well as any scientific discipline. Studying the history of this, and any other, part of science evidences how discontinuous this has been, and how the actual development depends from the contribution of every single scientist as well as on the developing of new techniques or instruments, and further on whether practical applications become available or social changes intervene, aU factors that affect whether a scientific project will pursued in depth or on the contrary abandoned. In the case of photochemistry, an initial outburst around 1910 was followed by the definition of the paradigms of this science around 1950. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the impression is that of a rapid centripetal motion [33]. As summarily sketched above, photochemistry is 

Photochemical upconverston increases the energy expioitabie new (anti-Stokes) emission 

Singlet fission Increases the number of (low energy) photons 

Two or more photon absorption increases the fraction of spectrum absorbed light penetrates deeper in media 

Some aspects of photochemistry that may lead to important advancements are briefly sketched in the following chapters, each of which centers on a specific application, although single molecules often find use in several fields. 

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