Speakers

Amphiphilic polymer conetworks (APCNs) have been primarily developed and used for wearable and biomedical applications owing to their bicontinuous hydrophilic/hydrophobic domains, optical clarity, solvent/ion compatibility, and elastic compliance. Here, we utilize these advantages and introduce APCNs as a scaffold for photonic/optoelectronics materials for light harvesting. We first engineer APCNs as a photonic scaffold for passive light harvesting. By loading hydrophilic donors (e.g., fluorescein) and hydrophobic acceptors (e.g., Lumogen Red) into adjacent, nanometer-separated domains, APCNs enable near-unity total energy transfer via Förster resonance energy transfer and photon recycling, broaden the effective absorption window, and concentrate emission, forming a high efficient wearable luminescent solar concentrator. This strategy also generalizes to multiple dyes (Rhodamine B, HPTS, DCM, Lumogen Yellow) and quantum dots (CsPbBr₃, CdSe/ZnS) without sacrificing mechanical robustness [Advanced Energy Materials, 2200441. (2022), Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 9(46), 25974-25981. (2021), Nano Energy, 76, 105039. (2020)].
Building on the passive scaffold, we transition to active APCN–organic photovoltaics (OPV) hybrids. [Advanced Energy Materials, e04273. (2025)] OPV PM6:Y6 bulk heterojunction molecules are incorporated in the hydrophobic domains while LSC dyes remain in the hydrophilic domains; dye emission is selected to spectrally match OPV absorption. Transient absorption reveals delayed PM6:Y6 ground-state bleach indicating exciton replenishment via energy transfer and GIWAXS shows that luminophore planarity/dihedral angles tune BHJ packing via van der Waals contacts to impact charge transport. Embedding functional moieties within APCNs thus couples spectral management with active-layer structuring, providing a multifunctional, flexible platform for next-generation optoelectronic devices.