Hybrid nanostructures using π-conjugated polymers and nanoscale metals: synthesis, characteristics, and optoelectronic applications

pi-Conjugated organic systems have been used as optoelectronic and sensing materials due to their characteristics of efficient light emission or absorption, and pi-type charge transport. The hybrid nanostructures of pi-conjugated organic systems with nanoscale metals offer surface plasmon (SP)-enhanced luminescence, which can be applied to organic-based optoelectronics, photonics, and sensing. Various hybrid nanostructures using light-emitting polymers with nanoscale metals have been fabricated and have shown considerable enhancement of photoluminescence efficiency due to energy and charge transfer effects in SP resonance coupling. In this tutorial review, recent conceptual and technological achievements in light-emitting polymers-based hybrid nanostructures are described.