Defect-Supported Energy-Transfer in Inorganic-Organic Hybrids

Phase I of NSF CAFF will focus on two systems in which inorganic-organic interfaces, and the presence of defects, have profound effects on energy transfer from the light harvesting inorganic core to the organic surrounding. First, plasmonic nanoparticle cores with electropolymerized polymer shells exhibit a broad range of energy transfer efficiencies that we hypothesize are due to defects. The other system exploits activation of SF/TF in organic molecules through energy transfer from inorganic nanostructures, but depend on the quality of the interface. Combined Center-level expertise is required to relate energy transfer to structural parameters and in particular defects on the atomic, nano- and microscales in order to exploit imperfections for optimized energy transfer.