Rational Design, Controlled Fabrication, and Photonic Applications of Organic Composite Nanomaterials

Nanophotonics, which mainly studies the light–matter interaction at the (sub)wavelength scale, has recently captured broad research interest because photons as information carriers may allow information density and processing speed surpassing the feasibility of the electronics. With easy processability, large optical cross-section, and chemically tailorable optical property, organic materials have acted an important role in various photonic devices. More importantly, organic molecules possess structure versatility and excellent material compatibility, which is very beneficial for the construction of composite nanomaterials from different photofunctional organic molecules. These multicomponent microstructures are very significant not only for the investigation on basic principles of photochemistry and photophysics, but also for the realization of complex/integrated functional photonic devices. Therefore, more and more scientific researches have concentrated on the preparation and photonic applications of organic composite nanomaterials, which significantly promotes the development of the field of nanophotonics. A summary of this research area is imperative for a deep understanding on the growth/fabrication mechanism and structure–property relationship of organic composite nanomaterials, which will be instructive for the photonic function oriented nanoarchitectonics. In this review, the recent significant progress in the design and development of organic composite nanomaterials is presented, with emphasis on the rational preparation and photonic applications.