Efficient artificial light-harvesting systems based on organic small microcrystals in aqueous suspension

Four efficient artificial light-harvesting systems have been developed in the present work. They assemble sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) with organic small molecule chromophores to synthesize microcrystals to mimic chlorophyll. In microcrystals, the chromophores are ordered through intermolecular dipole-dipole interactions, which results in efficient energy transfer. In the D-2/A-2 light-harvesting system, the donor concentrates excitation energy from 500 chromophores into a single acceptor with a relative high energy transfer efficiency (86%) and an antenna efficiency (33). The microcrystals exhibit high energy harvesting performance and act as an ideal framework for artificial light-harvesting systems.