Structure and Properties of Organic Dyes in Solid State

Dear Colleagues,

Color, which is part of the beauty of Nature, is important for the attractiveness and acceptability of most products used in our society.

According to the literature, organic dyes and pigments show color because they (i) have at least one chromophore, (ii) possess a conjugated system with resonance of electrons, and (iii) absorb radiation in the visible spectrum; when these characteristics are lacking from the molecular structure, the color is lost.

Most of the physical and chemical properties of dyes (spectroscopic, surface, solution or solid state characteristics), the physical aspects of their preparation (precipitation, nucleation and growth, crystal formation), their photochemical or biological properties, and the relationship between color and chemical constitution cannot be fully understood if their crystal structure is not elucidated.

Recently ,organic dyes have been discovered as promising semiconducting materials, thanks to the formation of interactions between dyes and appropriate different semiconducting substrates; encapsulation and subsequent stabilization of organic dye into inorganic layered structures or MOF is also of interest because these systems often show a clear enhancement of the structural stability in temperature, indicating that the assembly may appear as a mutual benefit.

In all these cases, the full elucidation of solid state structure is of crucial importance in order to understand the adsorption and desorption mechanism with substrates. The main adsorption forces include electrostatic interaction, ion exchange, π–π complexation, and hydrogen bonds.

The chemistry of dyes, pigments, and their intermediates are of interest in diverse fields of activity such as cosmetics, reprographics, additives, medical research, polymers, etc.

This Special Issue of Crystals is designed as a collection of papers covering the broad field of investigation of the structure and properties of organic dyes in the solid state that appear as such or crystallized or co-crystallized with any types of substrates.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Graiff
Guest Editor

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