Fluorescence enhancement of MEH-PPV by temperature dependent energy transfer in an inorganic-organic composite system

We investigate quantitatively the temperature dependent fluorescence enhancement due to nonradiative energy transfer in an inorganic-organic composite system. The composite material is a blend of an optically inert poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) with ZnO microcystals, as donor, doped with the conjugated polymer, poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) as acceptor. The nonradiative energy transfer process is supposed to be the dominant transfer mechanism, since donor-acceptor pairs (satisfying the criterion of spectral overlap) are distributed throughout the entire volume rather than in a layered heterostructure, thus having a larger number of acceptor molecules in close proximity of an excited donor.