Polymer Based Solid-State Solar Thermal Fuels

A polymer consisting of small functional molecules can be integrated into solar thermal fuels in the solid-state for solar energy harvesting and storage. In certain embodiments, a solar energy storage device can include one or more layers of photoswitchable moieties associated with a polymer. Such solar thermal fuel polymers can be used to enable deposition from low concentration solutions, resulting in uniform and large-area thin-films. This approach enables conformal deposition on a variety of conducting substrates that can be either flat or structured and control over film growth via electrodeposition conditions and results in highly uniform and large-area thin films.