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A conjugated alternating copolymer containing norbornadiene and bis(ethynylene)phenylene units was prepared by the Cassar-Heck-Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction. Its electroluminescence was tested in a device, and its fluorescence colour could be tuned by light-induced norbornadiene-quadricyclane isomerization.

Research on new materials for organic electroluminescence has recently focused strongly on phosphorescent emitters, with the aim of increasing the emission efficiency and stability. Here we report the fabrication of a simple electroluminescent device, based on a semiconducting polymer combined with a phosphorescent complex, that shows fully reversible voltage-dependent switching between green and red light emission. The active material is made of a polyphenylenevinylene (PPV) derivative molecularly doped with a homogeneously dispersed dinuclear ruthenium complex, which fulfils the dual roles of triplet emitter and electron transfer mediator. At forward bias (+4 V), the excited state of the ruthenium compound is populated, and the characteristic red emission of the complex is observed. On reversing the bias (-4 V), the lowest excited singlet state of the polymer host is populated, with subsequent emission of green light. The mechanism for the formation of the excited state of the PPV derivative involves the ruthenium dinuclear complex in a stepwise electron transfer process that finally leads to efficient charge recombination reaction on the polymer.

Rare earth ions, with relatively long luminescence lifetimes, have significant advantages for application in fields as varied as diagnostics and optical amplification. In diagnostics the long luminescence lifetimes allow for extremely sensitive time-gated detection, where the difference in temporal behavior of scatter and background fluorescence and the long-lived rare earth luminescence is utilized. In optical amplification the long excited-state lifetime makes it easier to obtain population inversion, a requirement for effective stimulated emission. Unfortunately the absorption cross section of rare earth ion transitions is extremely low. However, via sensitized excitation by means of a suitable organic molecule, efficient excitation is obtained. It is shown that excitation in the visible part of the spectrum can be used to excite rare earth ions which luminesce in the near-IR, such as ytterbium, neodymium, and erbium, via a fluorescein-derivative as sensitizer. The advantages of this approach are manifold. Low-cost light sources are available for the visible part of the spectrum, and interferences from the matrix (scatter, absorption) are minimal. Detection in the near-IR is almost interference-free. For optical amplification the wavelength regions around 1300 and 1550 nm, which can be covered with the neodymium and erbium complexes, respectively, are the most important for applications in optical telecommunication.

Charge-transfer fluorescence probes show a strong response of the intensity and wavelength positions of their spectra to solvent polarity and mobility. Such properties have been applied in the past to follow polymerization kinetics and solvent-induced effects (e.g., swelling) in polymeric materials. An important advantage of charge-transfer fluorescence probes is that they can be measured at extremely low concentrations, hence interference with the polymeric system is limited. Furthermore they report from “within,” since they are only sensitive to phenomena which occur in their immediate surroundings. In this paper it is shown that charge-transfer fluorescence probes can also be applied to study mechanical and thermal properties of polymers. The charge-transfer fluorescence probe Fluoroprobe (1-phenyl-4-[(4-cyano-1-naphthyl)methylene]piperidine) was doped into a polyether–polyester block copolymer, which was submitted to thermal and mechanical stress. The effect of strain applied to the polymers in various forms (fibers, sheets) and the effect of thermal processes (glass transition temperatures, phase transitions, melting points) are clearly reported by the changes in fluorescence intensity and wavelength of the Fluoroprobe molecule.

The ataxonomic discrimination of phytoplankton species on the basis of fluorescence data obtained by multiwavelength excitation in combination with wavelength selective detection in flow cytometry is demonstrated. The discrimination is based on differences in pigment composition between the species, which are reflected in their spectral characteristics. Classification can be done both by making use of the absolute fluorescence intensities and with fluorescence parameter ratios. The latter approach has the advantage that size-related effects and instrument fluctuations are reduced to a large extent. Photoadaptation does influence the absolute as well as the ratioed parameters that are obtained but does not impede the classification into major ataxonomic groups.