Resonance energy transfer in polymer nanodomains

The properties of nanostructured polymer materials are often determined by their interfacial domains, which are typically 1 - 10 nm thick. This range matches the length scale of Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET). While the use of FRET in polymers has been pioneered by Morawetz in the 1980s, only recently the technique was extended to obtain quantitative detailed information on nanostructured materials. This review describes a new tool that can be used to analyze FRET in nanostructures and characterize their morphology and component distribution. We describe the application of this tool to a few examples of polymer systems containing nanodomains and heterogeneous distributions of the components, from block copolymer films and micelles to polymer nanoparticles.