Dendrimers: A Mimic Natural Light-Harvesting System

In natural photosynthetic systems, a large array of chlorophyll molecules surrounds a single reaction center and channels the absorbed solar energy to the reaction center, ultimately resulting in ATP production. Dendrimers are well-defined tree-like macromolecules having numerous chain ends all emanating from a single core, which makes them an attractive candidate for light-harvesting applications. More importantly, their synthesis is controllable and the accurate positioning of chromophores can be achieved. Photoinduced electron transfer and energy transfer are main processes involved in photosynthesis. Studies on these processes in dendritic systems are important for the future application of dendrimers in optoelectronic devices. In this Focus Review we will discuss recent advances of light-harvesting dendrimers and emphasize the energy transfer and electron transfer characteristics in these systems.