A Transparent Planar Concentrator Using Aggregates of gem-Pyrene Ethenes

Abstract

The luminescence properties of pyrene ethenes, both as monomer and aggregate species, are found to depend on the regioisomer structure. Systematic shifts in absorption, emission, and excitation spectra of the gem-pyrene ethenes, both in solution and in rigid polymer hosts, are consistent with weakly interacting H-aggregate formation. This aggregation leads to excimer-like emission with Stokes shifts greater than 1 eV. Planar concentrators fabricated from gem-pyrene diphenylethenes show comparable performance to previously reported inorganic phosphors. The UV absorption and emission properties of the planar concentrator devices exhibit potential for transparent solar concentrators or visible-blind photodetector applications. This is the first demonstration of exploiting the unusual photophysics of molecular aggregates in planar concentrators.