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Programmable Surface Catalyzed Heterogeneous Nucleation Enables "Double-Cable" Light-Harvesting Supramolecular
Saikat Ghosh1, Mansi Kothari2, Simanta Kalita3
1New Chemistry Unit and School of Advanced Materials (SAMat), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Jakkur, Bangalore 560064, India.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
|June 24, 2026
Summary
Researchers created novel light-harvesting supramolecular polymers using precise self-assembly. Chirality controls the formation of double-cable structures with efficient energy transfer, mimicking natural systems.
Area of Science:
- Supramolecular chemistry
- Polymer science
- Materials science
Background:
- Supramolecular polymerization enables hierarchical structures with precise control.
- Existing methods offer limited access to complex organic heterostructures.
- Hierarchical topologies can emulate covalent polymer systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop precision-designed, light-harvesting supramolecular donor-acceptor double-cable polymers.
- To achieve orthogonal heterojunctions through a surface-catalyzed heterogeneous nucleation pathway.
- To demonstrate programmable control over heterojunction length and light-harvesting functionality.
Main Methods:
- Utilized core substituted naphthalene diimide (cNDI) chromophores with tripeptide side chains as modular monomers.
- Employed surface-catalyzed heterogeneous nucleation pathway for construction.
- Applied kinetic analysis, spectroscopic studies, and concepts from surface-catalyzed protein aggregation.
- Performed spectral and time-resolved fluorescence microscopy on individual heterostructures.
Main Results:
- Successfully constructed light-harvesting supramolecular donor-acceptor double-cable polymers with orthogonal heterojunctions.
- Demonstrated that peptide chirality regulates elongation and surface-catalyzed nucleation.
- Showcased efficient resonance energy transfer between parallel donor and acceptor cables at the single-chain level.
- Achieved programmable modulation of heterojunction length through sequential seeding.
Conclusions:
- This work presents a unique hierarchical supramolecular polymerization strategy.
- Achieved unprecedented precision and complexity in supramolecular polymer design.
- Established efficient light-harvesting functionality in single supramolecular double-cable heterostructures.
- Pushes the boundaries for the continued expansion of supramolecular polymer applications.
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