(Poly)terephthalates with Efficient Blue Emission in the Solid State

The Journey to Precious-Metal-Free Organic Phosphors from Single-Benzene-Cored Fluorophores

This article takes a look back over our research on the development of organic fluorophores that efficiently emit light in the solid state and precious-metal-free phosphors that emit light at room temperature. In particular, we place an emphasis on the prehistory of each project and the relationship between the established molecular designs. Our story starts from the serendipitous discovery of a luminophore with a single benzene core and follows the molecular design and characterization of 2,5-dipiperidyl-1,4-bis(acceptor-substituted ethenyl)benzenes that exhibit solid-state fluorescence with high-to-excellent quantum yields in the blue-to-red region. In addition, the design concepts, luminescence characteristics, and applications of eight novel classes of fluorophores are described, and the discovery, design, and luminescent properties of precious-metal-free compounds that show efficient room-temperature phosphorescence are presented.

Synthesis, Self-assembly, and Fluorescence Application of Bottlebrush Polyfluorene-g-Polycaprolactone with Conjugated Backbone and Crystalline Brushes

A series of bottlebrush copolymers with conjugated backbone and crystalline branch chains, polyfluorene-g-polycaprolactone (PF-g-PCL), are synthesized by combining Suzuki cross-coupling polymerization and cationic ring-opening polymerization. The PF-g-PCLs are prepared to self-assembled in solution and thin film. Due to the J-type aggregation of the polyfluorene main chains, the self-assembly spherical micelles have been observed. Meanwhile, in film, they exhibited self-assembly ringed spherulites because of the PF microregions in the bottlebrush copolymer. As a result of the interruption of PCL side chains, the aggregation tendency of PF main chains is weakened. And both the polymer solution and solid can overcome the aggregation-caused quenching to provide more pronounced fluorescence. Especially, owing to the good processability of the PF-g-PCL, as a fluorescent ink for different substrates, they can easily be prepared as high-brightness fluorescent films that are invisible under ambient light.