Layer-by-Layer Assembled Films of Perylene Diimide- and Squaraine-Containing Metal–Organic Framework-like Materials: Solar Energy Capture and Directional Energy Transfer

We demonstrate that thin films of metal–organic framework (MOF)-like materials, containing two perylenediimides (<b>PDICl</b>_<b>4</b>, <b>PDIOPh</b>_<b>2</b>) and a squaraine dye (<b>S1</b>), can be fabricated by layer-by-layer assembly (LbL). Interestingly, these LbL films absorb across the visible light region (400–750 nm) and facilitate directional energy transfer. Due to the high spectral overlap and oriented transition dipole moments of the donor (<b>PDICl</b>_<b>4</b> and <b>PDIOPh</b>_<b>2</b>) and acceptor (<b>S1</b>) components, directional long-range energy transfer from the bluest to reddest absorber was successfully demonstrated in the multicomponent MOF-like films. These findings have significant implications for the development of solar energy conversion devices based on MOFs