The nanopores of magnesium aluminophosphate MgAPO-36 (ATS structure) favor the formation of J-type aggregates in dyes with a general molecular skeleton of three fused aromatic rings. The particular distribution of these J-aggregate species and monomers, in a practically collinear disposition along the 1D-channels, allows an efficient transfer of electronic energy by dipole-dipole interaction. In order to achieve a material susceptible to be used as an artificial photonic antenna, covering a broader range of the UV-vis light spectrum and available by one-pot synthesis, the fluorescing dye acridine (AC) is occluded for the first time within MgAPO-36, both alone and with different ratios of the fluorescing dye Pyronine Y (PY). The one-dimensional energy-transfer process between the different chromophores and between the monomers and their red-shifted J-aggregates is controlled by the total concentration of dyes and their relative AC:PY ratio in the matrix. In the optimized AC:PY concentrations, the wavelength range antenna action is extended from near-UV to about 700 nm, transporting the light energy through the whole visible spectrum (blue to green to red) and spatially, from end to the end of the crystals. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

This work was funded by the Basque Government (IT339-10, S-12UN-140, and S-13UN) and the Spanish Ministerio de Economıa y Competitividad, MICINN (MAT2012-31127). V.M.M. and R.S.L. acknowledge Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for Ramón y Cajal (RYC-2011-0955) and Universidad del País Vasco (UPV-EHU) for their respective contract and fellowship.

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