In recent years, pathway complexity has been studied in detail for a large variety of organic and π-conjugated molecules. However, such investigations on their metal-containing analogues have received only little attention to date, despite the well-known potential of metal complexes in various fields. In this Minireview, we have collected recent examples of d 8 metal complexes (Pt(II), Pd(II) and Au(III) complexes) exhibiting controlled supramolecular polymerization through pathway complexity and seeded-growth approaches. Controlling the competing thermodynamic vs. kinetic pathways in these systems should help develop advanced metallosupramolecular functional materials with excellent photophysical, electronic, magnetic, catalytic, and biomedical applications.
Organic photovoltaic cells based on bulk-heterojunction architecture have been a topic of intense research for the past two decades. Recent reports on power conversion efficiency surpassing 10% suggest these devices are a viable low-cost choice for a range of applications where conventional silicon solar cells are not suitable. Further improvements in efficiency could be achieved with the enhanced interaction between the donor and acceptor components. Effective utilization of supramolecular interactions to tailor and manipulate the communication between the components in the blend is a good strategy towards this end. Literature reports suggest that the long-term stability of organic solar cells, a major hurdle for commercial applications, can also be partially addressed by generating stable supramolecular nanostructures. In this review, we have made an attempt to summarize advances in small molecule, oligomer and polymer based systems, wherein supramolecular interactions such as hydrogen-bonding, pi-pi stacking, and dipole-dipole are explored for realizing stable and efficient bulk-heterojunction solar cells.
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