Intraocular lenses (IOLs) are commonly implanted after surgical removal of a cataractous lens. A variety of IOL materials are currently available, including collamer, hydrophobic acrylic, hydrophilic acrylic, PHEMA copolymer, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), and silicone. High-quality polymers with distinct physical and optical properties for IOL manufacturing and in line with the highest quality standards on the market have evolved to encompass medical needs. Each of them and their packaging show unique advantages and disadvantages. Here, we highlight the evolution of polymeric materials and mainly the current state of the art of the unique properties of some polymeric systems used for IOL design, identifying current limitations for future improvements. We investigate the characteristics of the next generation of IOL materials, which must satisfy biocompatibility requirements and have tuneable refractive index to create patient-specific eye power, preventing formation of posterior capsular opacification.

Polymers are widely employed in several fields thanks to their wide versatility and the easy derivatization routes. However, a wide range of commercial polymers suffer from limited use on a large scale due to their inert nature. Nowadays, acrylate and methacrylate polymers, which are respectively derivatives of acrylic or methacrylic acid, are among the most proposed materials for their useful characteristics like good biocompatibility, capping ability toward metal clusters, low price, potentially recyclability and reusability. Here, we discuss the advantages and challenges of this class of smart polymers focusing our attention on their current technological applications in medical, electronic, food packaging and environmental remediation fields. Furthermore, we deal with the main issue of their recyclability, considering that the current commercial bioplastics are not yet able to meet the global needs as much as to totally replace fossil-fuel-based products. Finally, the most accredited strategies to reach recyclable composites based on acrylic polymers are described.

Photoinduced electron transfer is a topical issue in chemistry. In multicomponent donor–bridge–acceptor systems, electron transfer is usually discussed within the frame of superexchange theory, which takes into account electronic coupling mediated by virtual states involving bridge orbitals. However, the schematization used for superexchange in thermal electron transfer processes is not suitable to immediately understand some intriguing aspects of photoinduced charge separation and recombination processes, which are only uncovered by analyzing the virtual states involved in forward and backward excited-state electron transfer. In particular, for oxidative photoinduced electron transfer, a low-energy virtual state which cannot mediate the forward charge separation can efficiently mediate charge recombination via the hole-transfer superexchange route, whereas for reductive photoinduced electron transfer, a low-energy virtual state which cannot mediate the forward process can efficiently mediate charge recombination via electron-transfer superexchange. As a consequence, to obtain long-lived charge-separated states upon oxidative photoinduced electron transfer in donor–bridge–acceptor systems it is preferable to avoid easy-to-oxidize bridges, whereas easy-to-reduce bridges should better be avoided in reductive photoinduced charge separation. These considerations, exemplified by the analysis of some literature cases, can be useful hints for the design of long-lived charge-separated states.

The scientific adventure starting from simple dinuclear ruthenium(II) complexes and leading to the design, preparation, and study of photo‐ and redox‐active polynuclear metal dendrimers capable of performing useful photo‐driven processes is reviewed through decades of activity. The recent applications of luminescent metal dendrimers in the field of artificial photosynthesis – in particular as far as the photochemical water oxidation process is concerned – and their very recently revealed self‐aggregating properties, including concentration‐dependent photoinduced energy transfer, are also shown.