Polymers and Small-Molecule Ru Species

The blending of Ru complexes in polymers represents a straightforward alternative to the covalent or coordinative incorporation into polymer architectures. Though applications in the fields of opto-electronics (e.g., light-emitting electrochemical cells or diodes) or catalysis have been reported, an intrinsic limitation remains, which is bleaching. These aspects are discussed in this chapter. Furthermore, polymer staining is worth mentioning. The reaction between Ru species and polymers increases the electron-density contrast and, thus, facilitates the microscopy imaging of polymer samples. The history and important examples for this application are shown in the second half of the chapter.