One of the properties of polytorotaxanes involves the photoelectronic response when introducing photoactive or electrionic-active units into the mechanically interlocked structures.
For examples, the polyrotaxane structures are capable of enhancing the fluorescence quenching molecules that grafting on the rings and the other molecules at the ends. Amplification of a fluorescence chemosensory can be achieved by using polyrotaxane structure, which enhances the energy migration in the polymer. It was found that a rapid migration of the hole-electron pair to the rotaxanes sites is followed by a rapid combination which leads to the enhancement of the energy migration. In addition, the conductivity of these polyrotaxanes was lower than the parent components.
Also conductive polyrotaxanes can be obtained by employing metal binding in the polyrotaxanes structure. For example, a polyrotaxane containing a conjugated backbone can be synthesized through metal template and electropolymerization. The metal ion binding is reversible when another metal with stronger binding ability is employed to remove the previous ion, which results in the "scaffolding effect reversibility". The free coordination sites and the organic matrix are able to be maintained by the labile scaffolding.