ABSTRACT
Photophysical and photochemical reactions in heterogeneous media may differ significantly from analogous reactions in a homogeneous solution (1-4). The important role of reaction media in control rates, product distributions, and stereo-chemistry has long been recognized. Therefore, the study of the photoprocesses of organic and inorganic photoactive species in restricted geometry is a growing new field that yields a wide variety of useful applications in such areas as reaction media for controlled photochemical reactions and molecular devices for optics. For this purpose, nanomaterials with an ordered structure have an advantage, in that the properties of immobilized species can be discussed on the basis of their defined nanoscopic structures (5). Their structure-property relationships will provide indispensable information on designing materials with novel chemical, physical, and mechanical properties. In other words, one can control the attractive properties, such as photochromic and photocatalytic behavior, by organizing photoactive species into matrices with appropriate geometry and chemical environments.
