The presence of alkylammonium groups covalently grafted on bisphosphonato ligands induces photochromic properties to ligand-coordinated polyoxomolybdate systems. Such intrinsically photoactive polyanions can be used for the preparation of materials combining photochromic polyoxometalates and functional countercations.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based on Ti-oxo clusters (Ti-MOFs) represent a naturally self-assembled superlattice of TiO2 nanoparticles separated by designable organic linkers as antenna chromophores, epitomizing a promising platform for solar energy conversion. However, despite the vast, diverse, and well-developed Ti-cluster chemistry, only a scarce number of Ti-MOFs have been documented. ...

A photosensing protein directs light energy captured by its chromophore into a photocycle. The protein's structure must accommodate the photocycle and promote the resulting chemical or conformational changes that lead to signal transduction. The 1.4 A crystallographic structure of photoactive yellow protein, determined by multiple isomorphous replacement methods, provides the first view at atom...

Miniaturization of optoelectronic devices offers tremendous performance gain. As the volume of photoactive material decreases, optoelectronic performance improves, including the operation speed, the signal-to-noise ratio, and the internal quantum efficiency. Over the past decades, researchers have managed to reduce the volume of photoactive materials in solar cells and photodetectors by orders ...

We use a cocrystal with components arranged in a 1D hydrogen-bonded chain as a pseudoseed to template the components of a cocrystal that otherwise forms a photoactive 0D assembly to form a photostable 1D chain structure.

The light-induced isomerization of a double bond is the key event that allows the conversion of light energy into a structural change in photoactive proteins for many light-mediated biological processes, such as vision, photosynthesis, photomorphogenesis, and photo movement. Cofactors such as retinals, linear tetrapyrroles, and 4-hydroxy-cinnamic acid have been selected by nature that provide t...

In diverse classes of organic optoelectronic devices, controlling charge injection, extraction, and blocking across organic semiconductor-inorganic electrode interfaces is crucial for enhancing quantum efficiency and output voltage. To this end, the strategy of inserting engineered interfacial layers (IFLs) between electrical contacts and organic semiconductors has significantly advanced organi...

Chlorophyll (Chl) synthesis in Arabidopsis is controlled by two light-dependent NADPH-protochlorophyllide (PChlide) oxidoreductases (PORs), one (POR A) that is active transiently in etiolated seedlings at the beginning of illumination and another (POR B) that also operates in green plants. The function of these two enzymes during the light-induced greening of dark-grown seedlings has been studi...

Nanoparticulate titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) is highly photoactive, and its function as a photocatalyst drives much of the application demand for TiO(2). Because TiO(2) generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) when exposed to ultraviolet radiation (UVR), nanoparticulate TiO(2) has been used in antibacterial coatings and wastewater disinfection, and has been investigated as an anti-cancer agent. Oxi...

Two forms of the phototaxis receptor sensory rhodopsin I distinguished by differences in its photoactive site have been shown to be directly correlated with attractant and repellent signaling by the dual-signaling protein. In prior studies, differences in the photoactive site defined the two forms, namely the direction of light-induced proton transfer from the chromophore and the pK(a) of an As...