Artificial light-harvesting systems have received great attention for use in photosynthetic and optoelectronic devices. Recently, the CIAC scientists published a communication on a system involving G-quartet-based hierarchical nanofibers generated from the self-assembly of guanosine 5’-monophosphate (GMP) and a two-step Fçrster resonance energy transfer (FRET) that mimics natural lightharvesting antenna. This solid-state property offers advantages for future device fabrication. The generation of photocurrent under visible light shows it has potential for use as a nanoscale photoelectric device.

The system favors a two-step FRET from the donor to acceptor molecules confined in the right-handed helical nanofibers. Compared to systems with inefficient and costly covalent synthesis processes, the major merits of this system include facile preparation, absence of organic solvents, and low cost. Furthermore, these nanofibers showed light-harvesting properties both in solution and in the solid state, thus offering an advantage from the viewpoint of device processing. The generation of photocurrent was induced by visible light, which provides the material with the potential for application as a nanoscale photoelectric device. The work is expected to be beneficial for the development of light-harvesting systems by the self-assembly of supramolecular nanostructures.