Visible-Light-Excited Ultralong Organic Phosphorescence by Manipulating Intermolecular Interactions

Hydrostatic pressure effect on excited state properties of room temperature phosphorescence molecules: A QM/MM study

Stimulus-responsive organic room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials exhibit variations in their luminescent characteristics (lifetime and efficiency) upon exposure to external stimuli, including force, heat, light and acid-base conditions, the development of stimulus-responsive RTP molecules becomes imperative. However, the inner responsive mechanism is unclear, theoretical investigations to reveal the relationship among hydrostatic pressures, molecular structures and photophysical properties are highly desired. Herein, taking the Se-containing RTP molecule (SeAN) as a model, based on the dispersion corrected density functional theory (DFT-D), the combined quantum mechanics and molecular dynamics (QM/MM) method and thermal vibration correlation function (TVCF) theory, the influences of hydrostatic pressure on molecular structures, transition properties as well as lifetimes and efficiencies of RTP molecule are theoretically studied. Results show that extended lifetime and enhanced efficiency are observed at 2 Gpa compared with molecule at normal pressure, and this is related with the small reorganization energy and large oscillator strength. Moreover, due to the small energy gap (0.34 eV) and remarkable spin-orbit coupling (SOC) constant (8.56 cm-1) between first singlet excited state and triplet state, fast intersystem crossing (ISC) process is determined for molecule at 6 Gpa. Furthermore, the intermolecular interactions are visualized using independent gradient model based on Hirshfeld partition (IGMH) and the changes of molecular packing modes, SOC values, lifetimes and efficiencies with pressures are detected. These results reveal the relationship between molecular structures and RTP properties. Our work provides theoretical insights into the hydrostatic pressure response mechanism and could promote the development new efficient stimulus-responsive molecules.

Cocrystallization-Induced Red Ultralong Organic Phosphorescence

Organic cocrystals formed through multicomponent self-assembly have attracted significant interest owing to their clear structure and tunable optical properties. However, most cocrystal systems suffer from inefficient long-wavelength emission and low phosphorescence efficiency due to strong non-radiative processes governed by the energy gap law. Herein, an efficient long-lived red afterglow is achieved using a pyrene (Py) cocrystal system incorporating a second component (NPYC4) with thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) properties. The cocrystal (NPYC4-Py) not only inherits the excellent luminescence of its monomeric counterparts, but also exhibits unique dual-mode characteristics, including persistent TADF and UOP emission with a high quantum yield of 58 % and a lifetime of 362 ms. The precise cocrystal stacking distinctly reveals that intermolecular interactions lock the cocrystal formation and weaken the intermolecular π-π interactions between NPYC4 and Py, thereby stabilizing the excited triplet excitons. Furthermore, the favorable energy level of NPYC4 acts as a bridge, reducing the energy gap between the S1 and T1 states for Py, therefore activating its red phosphorescence from Py. This research provides direct insights into achieving efficient red UOP through co-crystallization.

Promoting WLED-Excited High Temperature Long Afterglow by Orthogonally Anchoring Chromophores into 0D Metal-Organic Cages

Afterglow materials have garnered significant interest due to distinct photophysical characteristics. However, it is still difficult to achieve long afterglow phosphorescence from organic molecules due to aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) and energy dissipation. In addition, most materials reported so far have long afterglow emission only at room or even low temperatures, and mainly use UV light as an excitation source. In this work, we report a strategy to achieve high temperature long afterglow emission through the assembly of isolated 0D metal-organic cages (MOCs). In which, both ACQ and phosphorescence quenching effects are effectively mitigated by altering the stacking mode of organic chromophores through orthogonally anchoring into the edges of cubic MOCs. Furthermore, improvement in molecular rigidity, promotion of spin-orbit coupling and broadening of the absorption range are achieved through the MOC-engineering strategy. As a result, we successfully synthesized MOCs that can produce afterglow emission even after excitation by WLEDs at high temperatures (380 K). Moreover, the MOCs are capable of generating afterglow emissions when excited by mobile phone flashlight at room temperature. Given these features, the potential applications of MOCs in the visual identification of explosives, information encryption and multicolor display are explored.

Visible-light-excited organic room temperature phosphorescence

Purely organic room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have evoked considerable attention owing to their fantastic optical properties and broad application prospects. However, most of the reported organic RTP materials can be only excited by UV light, leading to accelerated photoaging of organic phosphors and severe lesions of organisms under excitation. In contrast to UV light, visible light (380-780 nm) has much lower phototoxicity, deeper penetrability and easier accessibility, which make visible-light-excited RTP materials more favorable for practical uses, especially for life-related applications. Although it remains greatly challenging to construct visible-light-excited RTP materials, impressive progress has been made with the rapid development of this field. Herein, we systematically outline the significant progress achieved in visible-light-excited RTP materials, including the design and construction strategies, unique properties, underlying mechanisms and their vital applications. In the final section, we highlight the current challenges and research perspectives for suggesting future studies of visible-light-excited RTP materials.

Brightening triplet excitons enable high-performance white-light emission in organic small molecules via integrating n-π*/π-π* transitions

Luminescent materials that simultaneously embody bright singlet and triplet excitons hold great potential in optoelectronics, signage, and information encryption. However, achieving high-performance white-light emission is severely hampered by their inherent unbalanced contribution of fluorescence and phosphorescence. Herein, we address this challenge by pressure treatment engineering via the hydrogen bonding cooperativity effect to realize the mixture of n-π*/π-π* transitions, where the triplet state emission was boosted from 7% to 40% in isophthalic acid (IPA). A superior white-light emission based on hybrid fluorescence and phosphorescence was harvested in pressure-treated IPA, and the photoluminescence quantum yield was increased to 75% from the initial 19% (blue-light emission). In-situ high-pressure IR spectra, X-ray diffraction, and neutron diffraction reveal continuous strengthening of the hydrogen bonds with the increase of pressure. Furthermore, this enhanced hydrogen bond is retained down to the ambient conditions after pressure treatment, awarding the targeted IPA efficient intersystem crossing for balanced singlet/triplet excitons population and resulting in efficient white-light emission. This work not only proposes a route for brightening triplet states in organic small molecules, but also regulates the ratio of singlet and triplet excitons to construct high-performance white-light emission.

Targeting Compact and Ordered Emitters by Supramolecular Dynamic Interactions for High-performance Organic Ambient Phosphorescence

Purely organic room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have received intense attention due to their fascinating optical properties and advanced optoelectronic applications. The promotion of intersystem crossing (ISC) and minimalization of nonradiative dissipation under ambient conditions are key prerequisites for realizing high-performance organic RTP; However, the ISC process is generally inefficient for organic fluorogens and the populated triplet excitons are always too susceptible to be well stabilized by conventional means. Particularly, organizing organic fluorophores into compact and ordered entities by supramolecular dynamic interactions has proven to be a newly-emerged strategy to boost the ISC process greatly and suppress the non-radiative relaxations immensely, facilitating the population and stabilization of triplet excitons to access high-performance organic RTP. Consequently, well-defined organic emitters enable robust RTP emission even in the solution state, thus greatly extending the applications. Here, this review is focused on a timely and brief introduction to recent progress in tailoring ordered high-performance RTP emitters by supramolecular dynamic interactions. Their typical preparation strategies, optoelectronic properties, and applications are thoroughly summarized. In the summary section, key challenges and perspectives of this field are highlighted to suggest potential directions for future study.

Enabling Visible-Light-Charged Near-Infrared Persistent Luminescence in Organics by Intermolecular Charge Transfer

Visible light is a universal and user-friendly excitation source; however, its use to generate persistent luminescence (PersL) in materials remains a huge challenge. Herein, the concept of intermolecular charge transfer (xCT) is applied in typical host-guest molecular systems, which allows for a much lower energy requirement for charge separation, thus enabling efficient charging of near-infrared (NIR) PersL in organics by visible light (425-700 nm). Importantly, NIR PersL in organics occurs via the trapping of electrons from charge-transfer aggregates (CTAs) into constructed trap states with trap depths of 0.63-1.17 eV, followed by the detrapping of these electrons by thermal stimulation, resulting in a unique light-storage effect and long-lasting emission up to 4.6 h at room temperature. The xCT absorption range is modulated by changing the electron-donating ability of a series of acenaphtho[1,2-b]pyrazine-8,9-dicarbonitrile-based CTAs, and the organic PersL is tuned from 681 to 722 nm. This study on xCT interaction-induced NIR PersL in organic materials provides a major step forward in understanding the underlying luminescence mechanism of organic semiconductors and these findings are expected to promote their applications in optoelectronics, energy storage, and medical diagnosis.

The photochemistry and photophysics of benzoyl-carbazole

Benzoyl-carbazole and its derivatives are considered a platform for exploring processes such as room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). They have also been reported to exhibit dual emission, but there is a great spectral variability in the relative intensity of the emission bands reported in different studies. To better understand the fundamental photophysical properties, we set to explore BCz and its perfluorinated derivative F5BCz using spectroscopy and quantum chemical simulations. We find that the reported dual fluorescence in solution and in films results from a photochemical process (photo-Fries rearrangement), producing carbazole among other products, explaining the variation in the reported emission spectra. In addition, BCz exhibits solvent dependent TADF, which is explained by the stabilization of the charge transfer S1 state in polar solvents. F5BCz undergoes an efficient photochemical process (Mallory reaction) from its single state to produce highly fluorescent product c-F5BCz, in 40% isolated yield. This photoreactivity also proceeds in films under ambient conditions, which have significant implications on the applications of BCz-based materials for optoelectronic applications.

High-efficiency color-tunable ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence from organic-inorganic metal halides via synergistic inter/intramolecular interactions

Materials exhibiting highly efficient, ultralong and multicolor-tunable room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) are of practical importance for emerging applications. However, these are still very scarce and remain a formidable challenge. Herein, using precise structure design, several novel organic-inorganic metal-halide hybrids with efficient and ultralong RTP have been developed based on an identical organic cation (A). The original organic salt (ACl) exhibits red RTP properties with low phosphorescence efficiency. However, after embedding metals into the organic salt, the changed crystal structure endows the resultant metal-halide hybrids with excellent RTP properties. In particular, A2ZnCl4·H2O exhibits the highest RTP efficiency of up to 56.56% with a long lifetime of up to 159 ms. It is found that multiple inter/intramolecular interactions and the strong heavy-atom effect of the rigid metal-halide hybrids can suppress molecular motion and promote the ISC process, resulting in highly stable and localized triplet excitons followed by highly efficient RTP. More crucially, multicolor-tunable fluorescence and RTP achieved by tuning the metal and halogen endow these materials with wide application prospects in the fields of multilevel information encryption and dynamic optical data storage. The findings promote the development of phosphorescent metal-halide hybrids for potential high-tech applications.

Achieving Dual Emission of Fluorescence and Phosphorescence from Anti-Kasha's Metal-Organic Halides for Information Encryption

Luminescent materials typically emit their fluorescence or phosphorescence at a specific wavelength with different excitation energies via the so-called Kasha's rule. If fluorescence or phosphorescence emission via anti-Kasha's rule could be achieved, it will hold great promise for applications in many fields. In this work, we report the synthesis and characterization of new metal-organic halide materials with dual emission of efficient room-temperature phosphorescence and fluorescence, which obey anti-Kasha's rule. Here, three emitting metal-organic halides with formula [ZnX2(bidpe)] (X = Cl for 1, X = Br for 2, X = I for 3, bidpe = 4,4'-bis(imidazol-1-yl)diphenyl ether) were prepared and their photophysical properties were investigated. The complexes exhibit dual emission of fluorescence and phosphorescence via anti-Kasha's rule, and their RTP properties of resultant products are modulated by halide substitution synthesis. DFT calculations indicate that the singlet states exhibit a halide-ligand charge transfer (XLCT) character while the triplet states are dominated by the intraligand π-π* transitions. Furthermore, the multilevel information encryption and anticounterfeiting applications are developed by virtue of anti-Kasha's rule emission.

Cucurbit[8]uril-based supramolecular theranostics

Different from most of the conventional platforms with dissatisfactory theranostic capabilities, supramolecular nanotheranostic systems have unparalleled advantages via the artful combination of supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology. Benefiting from the tunable stimuli-responsiveness and compatible hierarchical organization, host-guest interactions have developed into the most popular mainstay for constructing supramolecular nanoplatforms. Characterized by the strong and diverse complexation property, cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) shows great potential as important building blocks for supramolecular theranostic systems. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of CB[8]-based supramolecular theranostics regarding the design, manufacture and theranostic mechanism. Meanwhile, the current limitations and corresponding reasonable solutions as well as the potential future development are also discussed.

Enhancing Purely Organic Room Temperature Phosphorescence via Supramolecular Self-Assembly

Long-lived and highly efficient room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials are in high demand for practical applications in lighting and display, security signboards, and anti-counterfeiting. Achieving RTP in aqueous solutions, near-infrared (NIR) phosphorescence emission, and NIR-excited RTP are crucial for applications in bio-imaging, but these goals pose significant challenges. Supramolecular self-assembly provides an effective strategy to address the above problems. This review focuses on the recent advances in the enhancement of RTP via supramolecular self-assembly, covering four key aspects: small molecular self-assembly, cocrystals, the self-assembly of macrocyclic hosts and guests, and multi-stage supramolecular self-assembly. This review not only highlights progress in these areas but also underscores the prominent challenges associated with developing supramolecular RTP materials. The resulting strategies for the development of high-performance supramolecular RTP materials are discussed, aiming to satisfy the practical applications of RTP materials in biomedical science.

Visible-light-excited robust room-temperature phosphorescence of dimeric single-component luminophores in the amorphous state

Organic room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) has significant potential in various applications of information storage, anti-counterfeiting, and bio-imaging. However, achieving robust organic RTP emission of the single-component system is challenging to overcome the restriction of the crystalline state or other rigid environments with cautious treatment. Herein, we report a single-component system with robust persistent RTP emission in various aggregated forms, such as crystal, fine powder, and even amorphous states. Our experimental data reveal that the vigorous RTP emissions rely on their tight dimers based on strong and large-overlap π-π interactions between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) groups. The dimer structure can offer not only excitons in low energy levels for visible-light excited red long-lived RTP but also suppression of the nonradiative decays even in an amorphous state for good resistance of RTP to heat (up to 70 °C) or water. Furthermore, we demonstrate the water-dispersible nanoparticle with persistent RTP over 600 nm and a lifetime of 0.22 s for visible-light excited cellular and in-vivo imaging, prepared through the common microemulsion approach without overcaution for nanocrystal formation.

Achieving High-Temperature Phosphorescence by Organic Cocrystal Engineering

Organic phosphors offer a promising alternative in optoelectronics, but their temperature-sensitive feature has restricted their applications in high-temperature scenarios, and the attainment of high-temperature phosphorescence (HTP) is still challenging. Herein, a series of organic cocrystal phosphors are constructed by supramolecular assembly with an ultralong emission lifetime of up to 2.16 s. Intriguingly, remarkable stabilization of triplet excitons can also be realized at elevated temperature, and green phosphorescence is still exhibited in solid state even up to 150 °C. From special molecular packing within the crystal lattice, it has been observed that the orientation of isolated water cluster and well-controlled molecular organization via multiple interactions can favor the structural rigidity of cocrystals more effectively to suppress the nonradiative transition, thus resulting in efficient room-temperature phosphorescence and unprecedented survival of HTP.

ε-Polylysine organic ultra-long room-temperature phosphorescent materials based on phosphorescent molecule doping

Achieving long-lived room-temperature phosphorescence from pure organic amorphous polymers is attractive, and afterglow materials with colour-tunable and multiple-stimuli-responsive afterglow are particularly important, but only few materials with these characteristics have been reported so far. Herein, a facile and general method is reported to construct a series of ε-polylysine (ε-PL)-based afterglow materials with tunable colour (from blue to red) and long life. By doping guest molecules into ε-PL to obtain composite materials, the polymer matrix provides a rigid environment for luminescent groups, resulting in amorphous polymers with different RTPs. In this system, the materials even have impressive humidity-stimulated responses, and the phosphorescence emission exhibits excitation-dependent and time-dependent properties. The humidity-responsive afterglow is caused by the destruction of hydrogen bonds and quenching of triplet excitons. The time-dependent afterglow should stem from the formation of diversified RTP emissive species with comparable but different lifetimes. 9,10-diaminophene has Ex-De properties in the film doping state. With the change of excitation wavelength (254 nm to 365 nm), the emission wavelength shifts from 461 nm to 530 nm, accompanied by the change of emission colour from blue to green. In addition, the phosphorescence life of the film is the longest, up to 2504.7 ms, and the afterglow lasts up to 15 s, which is conducive to its applications in anti-counterfeiting and information encryption.

Intermolecular donor-acceptor stacking to suppress triplet exciton diffusion for long-persistent organic room-temperature phosphorescence

Controlling triplet states is crucial to improve the efficiency and lifetime of organic room temperature phosphorescence (ORTP). Although the intrinsic factors from intramolecular radiative and non-radiative decay have been intensively investigated, the extrinsic factors that affect triplet exciton quenching are rarely reported. Diffusion to the defect sites inside the crystal or at the crystal surface may bring about quenching of triplet exciton. Here, the phosphorescence lifetime is found to have a negative correlation with the triplet exciton diffusion coefficient based on the density functional theory (DFT)/time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations on a series of ORTP materials. For systems with a weak charge transfer (CT) characteristic, close π-π stacking will lead to strong triplet coupling and fast triplet exciton diffusion in most cases, which is detrimental to the phosphorescence lifetime. Notably, for intramolcular donor-acceptor (D-A) type systems with a CT characteristic, intermolecular D-A stacking results in ultra-small triplet coupling, thus contributing to slow triplet diffusion and long phosphorescence lifetime. These findings shed some light on molecular design toward high-efficiency long persistent ORTP.

Tunable afterglow for mechanical self-monitoring 3D printing structures

Self-monitoring materials have promising applications in structural health monitoring. However, developing organic afterglow materials for self-monitoring is a highly intriguing yet challenging task. Herein, we design two organic molecules with a twisted donor-acceptor-acceptor' configuration and achieve dual-emissive afterglow with tunable lifetimes (86.1-287.7 ms) by doping into various matrices. Based on a photosensitive resin, a series of complex structures are prepared using 3D printing technology. They exhibit tunable afterglow lifetime and Young's Modulus by manipulating the photocuring time and humidity level. With sufficient photocuring or in dry conditions, a long-lived bright green afterglow without apparent deformation under external loading is realized. We demonstrate that the mechanical properties of complex 3D printing structures can be well monitored by controlling the photocuring time and humidity, and quantitively manifested by afterglow lifetimes. This work casts opportunities for constructing flexible 3D printing devices that can achieve sensing and real-time mechanical detection.

Understanding the AIE phenomenon of nonconjugated rhodamine derivatives via aggregation-induced molecular conformation change

The bottom-up molecular science research paradigm has greatly propelled the advancement of materials science. However, some organic molecules can exhibit markedly different properties upon aggregation. Understanding the emergence of these properties and structure-property relationship has become a new research hotspot. In this work, by taking the unique closed-form rhodamines-based aggregation-induced emission (AIE) system as model compounds, we investigated their luminescent properties and the underlying mechanism deeply from a top-down viewpoint. Interestingly, the closed-form rhodamine-based AIE system did not display the expected emission behavior under high-viscosity or low-temperature conditions. Alternatively, we finally found that the molecular conformation change upon aggregation induced intramolecular charge transfer emission and played a significant role for the AIE phenomenon of these closed-form rhodamine derivatives. The application of these closed-form rhodamine-based AIE probe in food spoilage detection was also explored.

Modulation of ΔEST and room temperature phosphorescence in carbazole derivatives

A simple strategy to modulate the singlet-triplet energy gap in 3,6-diaryl-N-acetophenylcarbazole derivatives is developed. Different substituents significantly influenced ΔEST, which is correlated for the first time with the singlet-triplet state dipole moments. Phosphorescence at ambient conditions in powder form (τ is up to 248 μs) and ultra long lifetime (up to 2.2 s) at 77 K is observed.

Synthesis of N-acyl carbazoles, phenoxazines and acridines from cyclic diaryliodonium salts

N-Acyl carbazoles can be efficiently produced through a single-step process using amides and cyclic diaryliodonium triflates. This convenient reaction is facilitated by copper iodide in p-xylene, using the commonly found activating ligand diglyme. We have tested this method with a wide range of amides and iodonium triflates, proving its versatility with numerous substrates. Beyond carbazoles, we also produced a variety of other N-heterocycles, such as acridines, phenoxazines, or phenazines, showcasing the robustness of our technique. In a broader sense, this new method creates two C-N bonds simultaneously based on a mono-halogenated starting material, thus allowing heterocycle formation with diminished halogen waste.

Investigation of Mechanochromic Luminescence of Pyrene-based Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens: Correlation between Molecular Packing and Luminescence Behavior

To better understand the correlation between molecular structure and optical properties such as aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and mechanochromic luminescence (MCL) emission, two new pyrene-based derivatives with substitutions at the 4- and 5-positions (1HH) and at the 4-, 5-, 9-, and 10-positions (2HH) were designed and synthesized. Cyano groups were introduced at the periphery of the synthesized compounds (1HCN, 1OCN, 1BCN, 2HCN, 2OCN, and 2BCN) to investigate the influence of these groups on the emission properties of the pyrene derivatives both in solution and in the solid state. The fluorescence emission performance of these compounds in water/acetone mixtures was simultaneously studied, revealing outstanding aggregation-induced emission properties. The typical shift in emission maxima to higher values was attributed to J-aggregate formation in the aggregate state. Careful investigation of the crystal structures demonstrated abundant and intense intermolecular interactions, such as C-H…π and C-H…N hydrogen bonds, contributing to the remarkable mechanochromic luminescence performance of these compounds. The MCL properties of all the compounds were investigated using powder X-ray diffraction, and the remarkable mechanochromic properties were attributed to J-aggregate phenomena in the solid state. These results provide valuable insights into the structure-property relationship of organic MCL materials, guiding the design of efficient organic MCL materials.

Visible Light-Activated Ultralong-Lived Triplet Excitons of Carbon Dots for White-Light Manipulated Anti-Counterfeiting

Room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) has emerged as an interesting but rare phenomenon with multiple potential applications in anti-counterfeiting, optoelectronic devices, and biosensing. Nevertheless, the pursuit of ultralong lifetimes of RTP under visible light excitation presents a significant challenge. Here, new phosphorescent materials that can be excited by visible light with record-long lifetimes are demonstrated, realized through embedding nitrogen doped carbon dots (N-CDs) into a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) film. The RTP lifetime of the N-CDs@PVA film is remarkably extended to 2.1 s excited by 420 nm, representing the highest recorded value for visible light-excited phosphorescent materials. Theoretical and experimental studies reveal that the robust hydrogen bonding interactions can effectively reduce the non-radiative decay rate and radiative transition rate of triplet excitons, thus dramatically prolong the phosphorescence lifetime. Notably, the RTP emission of N-CDs@PVA film can also be activated by easily accessible low-power white-light-emitting diode. More significantly, the practical applications of the N-CDs@PVA film in state-of-the-art anti-counterfeiting security and optical information storage domains are further demonstrated. This research offers exciting opportunities for utilizing visible light-activated ultralong-lived RTP systems in a wide range of promising applications.

Recent Advances in Organic Molecular-to-Supramolecular Self-Assembled Room-Temperature Phosphorescent Materials for Biomedical Applications

This minireview focuses on recent advancements in organic molecular-to-supramolecular self-assembled room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials and their prospective biomedical applications. RTP materials, having their unique capacity to emit long-lasting phosphorescence at ambient temperature, have piqued researchers' interest in various biological applications, including biosensing, bioimaging, drug delivery, and photodynamic therapy (PDT). These materials have several benefits, including high sensitivity, remarkable photostability, and low cytotoxicity. RTP materials' self-assembly into supramolecular structures improves their performance and broadens their uses. Researchers have built organic RTP systems with long-lasting phosphorescence by leveraging weak noncovalent interactions in aquatic conditions. These materials have demonstrated incredible promise as biosensors that enable sensitive analyte detection and as photosensitizers in PDT that target and sensitize specific cell types. The review also outlines future directions and challenges in developing and utilizing pure organic RTP materials for biological imaging purposes, providing valuable guidelines for their future design and application.

Phosphorescence, fluorescence, and colorimetric triple-mode sensor for the detection of acid phosphatase and corresponding inhibitor

Acid phosphatase (ACP) as a clinical diagnostic biomarker for several pathophysiological diseases has aroused widespread interest. Compared to commonly developed single-mode ACP detection technology, the multi-mode detection method with self-validation can provide more reliable results. Herein, we proposed a triple-mode phosphorescence, fluorescence, and colorimetric method for ACP detection in combination with CDs@SiO₂. HAuCl₄ with oxidase-like activity can catalyze the oxidation of colorless 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to the blue oxide TMB (TMBox), offering absorption signals and quenching the phosphorescence and fluorescence of CDs@SiO₂ based on the internal filtration effect (IFE). ACP can hydrolyze ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AAP) to yield ascorbic acid (AA), thereby reducing TMBox to TMB, triggering solution fading and restoring phosphorescence and fluorescence signals. When the ACP inhibitor malathion is present, the reduction of TMBox is hindered, which successively led to the suppression of CDs@SiO₂ phosphorescence and fluorescence signal recovery. According to these principles, triple-mode ACP (LOD = 0.0026 mU mL^-1) and malathion detections (LOD = 0.039 μg mL^-1) with favorable accuracy and sensitivity are realized. With simplicity, robustness, and versatility, the triple-mode sensor can be extended to the detection of the AAP hydrolase family and the screening of corresponding inhibitors.

Narrowband Organic Afterglow via Phosphorescence Förster Resonance Energy Transfer for Multifunctional Applications

Achieving multicolor organic afterglow materials with narrowband emission and high color purity is important in various optoelectronic fields but remains a great challenge. Here, an efficient strategy is presented to obtain narrowband organic afterglow materials via Förster resonance energy transfer from long-lived phosphorescence donors to narrowband fluorescence acceptors in a polyvinyl alcohol matrix. The resulting materials exhibit narrowband emission with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) as small as 23 nm and the longest lifetime of 721.22 ms. Meanwhile, by pairing the appropriate donors and acceptors, multicolor and high color purity afterglow ranging from green to red with the maximum photoluminescence quantum yield of 67.1% are achieved. Moreover, given their long luminescence lifetime, high color purity, and flexibility, the potential applications are demonstrated in high-resolution afterglow displays and dynamic and quick information identification in low-light conditions. This work provides a facile approach for developing multicolor and narrowband afterglow materials as well as expands the features of organic afterglow.

Curved Nanographenes: Multiple Emission, Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence, and Non-Radiative Decay

The intriguing and rich photophysical properties of three curved nanographenes (CNG 6, 7, and 8) are investigated by time-resolved and temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. CNG 7 and 8 exhibit dual fluorescence, as well as dual phosphorescence at low temperature in the main PL bands. In addition, hot bands are detected in fluorescence as well as phosphorescence, and, in the narrow temperature range of 100-140 K, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) with lifetimes on the millisecond time-scale is observed. These findings are rationalized by quantum-chemical simulations, which predict a single minimum of the S1 potential of CNG 6, but two S1 minima for CNG 7 and CNG 8, with considerable geometric reorganization between them, in agreement with the experimental findings. Additionally, a higher-lying S2 minimum close to S1 is optimized for the three CNG, from where emission is also possible due to thermal activation and, hence, non-Kasha behavior. The presence of higher-lying dark triplet states close to the S1 minima provides mechanistic evidence for the TADF phenomena observed. Non-radiative decay of the T1 state appears to be thermally activated with activation energies of roughly 100 meV and leads to disappearance of phosphorescence and TADF at T > 140 K.

Effects of the Solvent Vapor Exposure on the Optical Properties and Photocatalytic Behavior of Cellulose Acetate/Perylene Free-Standing Films

The search to deliver added value to industrialized biobased materials, such as cellulose derivatives, is a relevant aspect in the scientific, technological and innovation fields at present. To address these aspects, films of cellulose acetate (CA) and a perylene derivative (Pr) were fabricated using a solution-casting method with two different compositions. Consequently, these samples were exposed to dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent vapors so that its influence on the optical, wettability, and topographical properties of the films could be examined. The results demonstrated that solvent vapor could induce the apparent total or partial preferential orientation/migration of Pr toward the polymer-air interface. In addition, photocatalytic activities of the non-exposed and DMF vapor-exposed films against the degradation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous medium using light-emitting diode visible light irradiation were comparatively investigated. Apparently, the observed improvement in the performance of these materials in the MB photodegradation process is closely linked to the treatment with solvent vapor. Results from this study have allowed us to propose the fabrication and use of the improved photoactivity "all-organic" materials for potential applications in dye photodegradation in aqueous media.

Aqueous solutions with information on solids: room-temperature phosphorescence of polysaccharide-benzophenone complexes

Benzophenone and its derivatives emit crystallization-induced phosphorescence despite their simple structures. To easily modify their phosphorescence properties, we prepared phosphorescence-emitting aqueous solutions of polysaccharide-benzophenone and polysaccharide-4,4'-difluorobenzophenone complexes, which exhibit excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability.

Hydrogen Bonding Regulated Flexibility and Disorder in Hydrazone-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks

Covalent organic framework (COF) chemistry is experiencing unprecedented development in recent decades. The current studies on COF chemistry are mainly focused on the discovery of novel covalent linkages, new topological structures, synthetic methodologies, and potential applications. However, despite the fact that noncovalent interactions are ubiquitous in COF chemistry, relatively little attention has been given to the role of noncovalent bonds on COF structures and their properties. In this work, a series of hydrazone-linked COFs involving noncovalent hydrogen bonds have been constructed, where the hydrogen-bonding interaction plays critical roles in the COF crystallinity and structures. The regulation of structural flexibility, the reversible transition between order and disorder, and the variety of host-guest interactions have been demonstrated in succession for the first time in COFs. The results obtained by the hydrogen-bonding-regulated strategy may also be extendable to other noncovalent interactions, such as π-π interactions, metal coordination interactions, Lewis acid-base interactions, etc. These findings will inspire future developments in the design, synthesis, structural regulation, and applications of COFs by manipulating noncovalent interactions.

Crucial Role of Defect States in the Ultralong Phosphorescence of Organic Molecular Crystals

Ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) in pure organic molecular crystals has attracted a lot of interest recently. There is much debate on the emission mechanism of this UOP. Two recent experimental works published in Nat. Photonics 2019, 13, 406-411 and Nat. Mater. 2021, 20, 175-180 attribute UOP in the 2,4,6-trimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine (TMOT) crystals and the carbazole crystals to H-aggregation of the TMOT molecules or the formation of charge-transfer excitons between the carbazole and impurity molecules. Our first-principles many-body Green's function theory calculations show that the lowest triplet states of these two crystals are in fact the localized defect states originating from the twisted TMOT molecules and the impurities, respectively. Energies of the H-aggregation-induced exciton and the charge-transfer exciton are too high to account for UOP. UOP should be mainly due to the little orbital overlap between the localized defect state and the delocalized band edges of the crystal. Strong intermolecular interactions suppress nonradiative decay of the triplet exciton localized on the defect.

Organic persistent room temperature phosphorescence enabled by carbazole impurity

The molecular design of metal-free organic phosphors is essential for realizing persistent room-temperature phosphorescence (pRTP) despite its spin-forbidden nature. A series of halobenzonitrile-carbazoles has been prepared following a one-pot nucleophilic substitution protocol involving commercially available and laboratory-synthesized carbazoles. We demonstrate how halo- and cyano-substituents affect the molecular geometry in the crystal lattice, resulting in tilt and/or twist of the carbazole with respect to the phenyl moiety. Compounds obtained from the commercially available carbazole result in efficient pRTP of organic phosphors with a high quantum yield of up to 22% and a long excited state lifetime of up to 0.22 s. Compounds obtained from the laboratory-synthesized carbazole exhibit thermally activated delayed fluorescence with an excited state lifetime in the millisecond range. In-depth photophysical studies reveal that luminescence originates from the mixed locally excited state (³LE, nπ*)/charge transfer state.

Competition between ultralong organic phosphorescence and thermally activated delayed fluorescence in dichloro derivatives of 9-benzoylcarbazole

Optoelectronic materials based on metal-free organic molecules represent a promising alternative to traditional inorganic devices. Significant attention has been devoted to the development of the third generation of OLEDs which are based on the temperature-activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) mechanism. In the last few years, several materials displaying ultra-long organic phosphorescence (UOP) have been designed using strategies such as crystal engineering and halogen functionalisation. Both TADF and UOP are controlled by the population of triplet states and the energy gaps between the singlet and triplet manifolds. In this paper, we explore the competition between TADF and UOP in the molecular crystals of three dichloro derivatives of 9H-carbazol-3-yl(phenyl)methanone. We investigate the excited state mechanisms in solution and the crystalline phase and address the effects of exciton transport and temperature on the rates of direct and reverse intersystem crossing under the Marcus-Levich-Jortner model. We also analyse how the presence of isomeric impurities and the stabilisation of charge transfer states affect these processes. Our simulations explain the different mechanisms observed for the three derivatives and highlight the role of intramolecular rotation and crystal packing in determining the energy gaps. This work contributes to a better understanding of the connection between chemical and crystalline structures that will enable the design of efficient materials.

Ultralong Organic Phosphorescence: From Material Design to Applications

Organic phosphorescence is defined as a radiative transition between the different spin multiplicities of an organic molecule after excitation; here, we refer to the photoexcitation. Unlike fluorescence, it shows a long emission lifetime (∼μs), large Stokes shift, and rich excited state properties, attracting considerable attention in organic electronics during the past years. Ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP), a type of persistent luminescence in organic phosphors, shows an emission lifetime of over 100 ms normally according to the resolution limit of the naked eye. According to the Jablonski energy diagram, two prerequisites are necessary for UOP generation and enhancement. One is to promote intersystem crossing (ISC) of the excitons from the excited singlet to triplet states by enhancing the spin-orbit coupling (SOC); the other is to suppress the nonradiative transitions of the excitons from the excited triplet states.In this Account, we will give a summary of our research on ultralong organic phosphorescence, including the design of materials, manipulation of properties, fabrication of nano/microstructures, and function applications. First, we give a brief introduction to the UOP development. Then, we discuss the constructed methods of UOP materials from the inter/intramolecular interaction types, including π-π interactions, intermolecular hydrogen bonds, halogen bonds, ionic bonds, covalent bonds, and so on. These effective interactions can build a rigid environment to restrain the nonradiative transitions from the molecular motions or external quenching by oxygen, moisture, or heat, and thus enhance the UOP performance. Next, the manipulation of UOP properties, containing excitation wavelength, emission colors, lifetimes, and quantum efficiency (QE), through molecular or crystal engineering will be summarized. Recently, the excitation wavelengths of the materials for UOP can be regulated in different regions, such as UV, visible light, and X-ray; the emission colors of UOP can cover the whole visible-light region, from deep blue to red; the phosphorescence lifetime of UOP materials can reach 2.5 s, and the quantum efficiency can be achieved up to 96.5%. Moreover, we will present the fabrication of micro/nanoscale UOP materials, including the preparation of micro/nanostructure, optical performance, and device fabrication. Afterward, we will review the potential applications of UOP materials in organic/bio-optoelectronics, such as information encryption, bioimaging, sensing, afterglow display, etc. Finally, an outlook on the development of UOP materials and applications will be proposed.

Ultrafast Time-Resolved Spectroscopic Study on the Photophysical and Photochemical Reaction Mechanisms of ortho-Methylbenzophenone in Selected Solutions

The photophysical and photochemical reaction pathways of ortho-methylbenzophenone (o-MeBP) in different solutions were investigated by employing femtosecond to nanosecond transient absorption and nanosecond time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy methods. In pure acetonitrile, neutral or pH 1 aqueous solutions, o-MeBP exhibit similar excited-state evolutions upon excitation in which o-MeBP will experience excitation to an excited state then undergo intersystem crossing and solvent arrangement followed by 1,5 hydrogen atom transfer processes to form the first singlet excited state, triplet state (n, π*), biradical intermediates, and enol form transients, respectively. However, in a pH 0 acidic solution, the protonation of o-MeBP will form the cation biradical intermediate that facilitates radical coupling to generate a benzocyclobutanol product, which causes a dramatic reduction of the lifetime of the enol form transients. In contrast, in sodium bicarbonate solution, the biradical intermediate may be quenched by the bicarbonate ion to construct a C-C bond and form the carboxylic acid that causes a fast decay of biradical intermediate. These results demonstrate that the photophysical and photochemical reaction pathways of o-MeBP are pH-dependent in aqueous solution which may be very useful for the capture of CO₂ capture by photoexcitation of aromatic ketones.

Metal-Halide Coordination Polymers with Excitation Wavelength- and Time-Dependent Ultralong Room-Temperature Phosphorescence

Metal-organic hybrids with ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) have potential applications in many fields, including optical communications, anticounterfeiting, encryption, bioimaging, and so on. Herein, we report two isostructural one-dimensional zinc-organic halides as coordination polymers ZnX₂(bpp) (X = Cl, 1; Br, 2; bpp = 1,3-di(4-pyridyl)propane) with excitation wavelength- and time-dependent ultralong RTP properties. The dynamic multicolor afterglow can be assigned to the emission of the pristine ligand bpp and its interactions with halogen atoms. Experiments and theoretical calculations both suggest that ZnX₂ is crucial for ultralong RTP: (a) the metal coordination and X...π bonds in coordination polymers fix the bpp molecules and suppress the nonradiative transitions; (b) the spin-orbital coupling of coordination polymers is largely enhanced relative to the bpp because of the heavy atom effect; and (c) the charge transfer exists between halogens and bpp ligand. Therefore, this work not only presents metal-halide coordination polymers with excitation wavelength- and time-dependent RTP properties, but also provides a facile method for the new types of dynamic multicolor afterglow materials.

The mechanism of intramolecular halogen bonding enhanced the quantum efficiency of ultralong organic phosphorescence in the aggregated state

Ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) has broad application prospects in many fields, but realizing its high quantum efficiency is still full of challenges. One of the main reasons is that the internal luminescence mechanism is unclear and theoretical investigations to reveal the inner structure-property relationship are highly desired. Herein, the internal mechanism of halogen bonding enhancing the quantum efficiency of UOP is studied through the combination of quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics methods coupled with the thermal vibration correlation function (TVCF) method. Geometric and electronic data are obtained by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. Transition properties, energy gaps, intermolecular interactions, excited state dynamics as well as Huang-Rhys factors and reorganization energies are analyzed in detail. The results show that the high phosphorescence quantum efficiency benefits from the fast intersystem crossing (ISC) process and the slow non-radiative decay process. The halogen bonding, which cooperates with the effects of aromatic carbonyl and heavy atoms, not only accelerates the ISC rate by increasing the spin-orbit coupling effect, but also restricts the molecular motion and reduces the non-radiative energy consumption. Furthermore, through wise molecular design, an efficient UOP molecule with fast ISC and slow non-radiative decay rates is proposed. This work provides an insight into realizing efficient UOP emission via intramolecular halogen bonding.

Carbon Dots in Hydroxy Fluorides: Achieving Multicolor Long-Wavelength Room-Temperature Phosphorescence and Excellent Stability via Crystal Confinement

Carbon dots (CDs) have aroused widespread interest in the construction of room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials. However, it is a great challenge to obtain simultaneous multicolor long-wavelength RTP emission and excellent stability in CD-based RTP materials. Herein, a novel and universal "CDs-in-YOHF" strategy is proposed to generate multicolor and long-wavelength RTP by confining various CDs in the Y(OH)_xF_3-x (YOHF) matrix. The mechanism of the triplet emission of CDs is related to the space confinement, the formation of hydrogen bonds and C-F bonds, and the electron-withdrawing fluorine atoms. Remarkably, the RTP lifetime of orange-emissive CDs-o@YOHF is the longest among the reported single-CD-matrix composites for emission above 570 nm. Furthermore, CDs-o@YOHF exhibited higher RTP performance at long wavelength in comparison to CDs-o@matrix (matrix = PVA, PU, urea, silica). The resulting CDs@YOHF shows excellent photostability, thermostability, chemical stability, and temporal stability, which is rather favorable for information security, especially in a complex environment.

Self-Matrix N-Doped Room Temperature Phosphorescent Carbon Dots Triggered by Visible and Ultraviolet Light Dual Modes

The synthesis of room temperature phosphorescent carbon dots (RTP-CDs) without any matrix is important in various applications. In particular, RTP-CDs with dual modes of excitation are more interesting. Here, we successfully synthesized matrix-free carbonized polymer dots (CPDs) that can generate green RTP under visible and ultraviolet light dual-mode excitation. Using acrylic acid (AA) and ammonium oxalate as precursors, a simple one-pot hydrothermal method was selected to prepare AA-CPDs. Here, acrylic acid is easy to polymerize under high temperature and high pressure, which makes AA-CPDs form a dense cross-linked internal structure. Ammonium oxalate as a nitrogen source can form amino groups during the reaction, which reacts with a large number of pendant carboxyl groups on the polymer chains to further form a cross-linked structure. The carboxyl and amino groups on the surface of AA-CPDs are connected by intermolecular hydrogen bonds. These hydrogen bonds can provide space protection (isolation of oxygen) around the AA-CPDs phosphor, which can stably excite the triplet state. This self-matrix structure effectively inhibits the non-radiative transition by blocking the intramolecular motion of CPDs. Under the excitation of WLED and 365 nm ultraviolet light, AA-CPDs exhibit the phosphorescence emission at 464 nm and 476 nm, respectively. The naked-eye observation exceeds 5 s and 10 s, respectively, and the average lifetime at 365 nm excitation wavelength is as long as 412.03 ms. In addition, it successfully proved the potential application of AA-CPDs in image anti-counterfeiting.

Control of photoluminescence quantum yield and long-lived triplet emission lifetime in organic alloys

Two-component crystalline organic alloys with a wide range of compositional ratios (from 30% to 90% of one component) are employed to tune excited-state lifetimes and photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs). Alloy crystals exhibit homogeneous distribution of parent compounds by X-ray crystallography and differential scanning calorimetry. The alloys display a 1.5- to 5-fold enhancement in thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) lifetime, compared to the parent compounds. PLQYs can also be tuned by changing alloy composition. The reverse intersystem crossing and long-lived lifetime of the parent compounds give rise to long-lived TADF in the alloys. Organic alloys enable tunability of both lifetime and efficiency, providing a new perspective on the development of organic long-lived emissive materials beyond the rules established for host-guest doped systems.

Full-Color Long-Lived Room Temperature Phosphorescence in Aqueous Environment

Long-lived room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials are widely utilized in the field of biological and chemical sensing, due to their unique characteristics of long-lived luminescence and no background autofluorescence. However, the realization of full-color RTP in aqueous solution still remains a great challenge. Herein, a feasible strategy for achieving high stability and full-color RTP of carbon dots (CDs)-based composite materials in aqueous environment is reported by constructing a rigid hydrogen bonds' network. The obtained m,p-CDs@CA composite materials exhibit deep-blue RTP with phosphorescence quantum yield of 23.2% and lifetime of 1.74 s, and the afterglow can last for over 12 s. More importantly, the m,p-CDs@CA composite materials are desirable in the detection of biomarkers, because of excellent stability, dispersion, and long-lived RTP properties. The m,p-CDs@CA suspension also displays excellent sensitivity, and a limitation of detection as low as 5.61 and 550 nm for biomarkers 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (HIAA) and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, HT), respectively. Meanwhile, the sensing performance exhibits excellent selectivity even in the presence of other competitive species in blood plasma and urine. With superior selectivity, the long-lived phosphorescence probe based on m,p-CDs@CA suspension can be as an effective biomarker for carcinoid identification, which has potential application in clinical analysis.

Mobile Phone Flashlight-Excited Red Afterglow Bioimaging

Organic room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials with ultralong lifetime possess the remarkable advantage in bioimaging for elimination of background noise by characteristic time scale. However, most of RTP luminogens need to be excited by the harmful ultraviolet (UV) lamp, and exhibit green or yellow emission with shallow tissue penetration, constraining the in vivo bioimaging for further application in clinical diagnosis and pathological study. In this text, the much safer excitation process by sunlight and mobile phone flashlight is realized by organic luminogens with various electronic pull-push systems. Moreover, the bright red RTP emission with lifetime up to 344 ms is achieved by optimizing molecular geometry and electronic property. Especially, the mobile phone flashlight-excited red afterglow imaging of lymph nodes in living mice has been realized for the first time, affording a safe and conventional approach to achieve the afterglow imaging of living mice with deep issue penetration and high signal-to-noise ratios.

Irreversible Humidity-Responsive Phosphorescence Materials from Cellulose for Advanced Anti-Counterfeiting and Environmental Monitoring

Organic phosphorescence materials have many unique advantages, such as a large Stokes shift, high signal-to-noise ratio, and no interference from background fluorescence and scattered light. But, they generally lack responsiveness. Herein, we developed a new type of biopolymer-based phosphorescence materials with excellent processability and irreversible humidity-responsiveness, via introducing the imidazolium cation to cellulose chain. In the resultant cellulose derivatives, the imidazolium cation promotes the intersystem crossing, meanwhile the cation, chloride anion, and hydroxyl group form multiple hydrogen bonding interactions and electrostatic attraction interactions, which successfully inhibit the nonradiative transitions. As a result, the ionic cellulose derivatives exhibit green phosphorescence at room temperature and can be processed into phosphorescent films, coatings, and patterns. More interestingly, their phosphorescence emission changes when the different processing solvents are used. The ionic cellulose derivatives processed with acetone have a negligible phosphorescence, while they give an irreversible humidity-responsive phosphorescence, which means that the ionic cellulose derivatives processed with acetone exhibit significantly enhanced phosphorescence once they meet water vapor. Such novel irreversible responsive phosphorescence materials have huge potential in advanced anticounterfeiting, information encryption, molecular logic gates, smart tags, and process monitoring.

Long-Lived Room Temperature Phosphorescence Crystals with Green Light Excitation

Long-lived room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials are promising for applications in various fields including security information, medical diagnostics, and molecular imaging because of their unique optical properties. Previous RTP materials are mainly excited by ultraviolet light, while synthesizing long-lived RTP materials with visible-light-excitation remains a challenge. In particular, long-lived RTP materials that can be excited by green light are rare. Herein, a feasible and concise chemical strategy for constructing hydrogen-bonded frameworks in an aqueous environment is developed to fabricate large-size, green-light-excited, and excitation-dependent long-lived RTP carbon dot crystals (m,p/CDs-ME). The RTP performance of the crystals exhibits strong excitation wavelength dependence, leading to a full range of visible-light tuning from blue to red. Importantly, the maximum excitation wavelength of the RTP crystals is around 500 nm, thus successfully realizing green light excitation. m,p/CDs-ME presents long-lived phosphorescence (130 ms) under 500 nm excitation in aqueous solution, making it highly suitable for dopamine detection. This work not only provides a general guideline for the development of large size long-lived RTP crystals but also extends the operation scope of long-lived RTP materials in the detection of biomarkers by visible light excitation.