Graphene oxide-BODIPY conjugates as bright fluorescent material

Covalent functionalization of graphene oxide (GO) with boron dipyrromethenes (BODIPYs) was achieved through a facile synthesis, affording two different GO-BODIPY conjugates where the main difference lies in the nature of the spacer and the type of bonds between the two components. The use of a long but flexible spacer afforded strong electronic GO-BODIPY interactions in the ground state. This drastically altered the light absorption of the BODIPY structure and impeded its selective excitation. In contrast, the utilisation of a short, but rigid spacer based on boronic esters resulted in a perpendicular geometry of the phenyl boronic acid BODIPY (PBA-BODIPY) with respect to the GO plane, which enables only minor electronic GO-BODIPY interactions in the ground state. In this case, selective excitation of PBA-BODIPY was easily achieved, allowing to investigate the excited state interactions. A quantitative ultrafast energy transfer from PBA-BODIPY to GO was observed. Furthermore, due to the reversible dynamic nature of the covalent GO-PBA-BODIPY linkage, some PBA-BODIPY is free in solution and, hence, not quenched from GO. This resulted in a weak, but detectable fluorescence from the PBA-BODIPY that will allow to exploit GO-PBA-BODIPY for slow release and imaging purposes.

Study on the substitution effects of zinc benzoate terpyridine complexes on photoluminescence, antiproliferative potential and DNA binding properties

Six zinc(II) complexes, [Zn(OCOPh)₂L^R] (R = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) were synthesized by the reaction of zinc benzoate and six para-substituted 4-phenyl-terpyridine complexes and their structures were confirmed by elemental analysis, FT-IR, ¹H NMR and X-ray single crystal diffraction analysis. Their photoluminescent properties in solid and in solutions of DMSO were studied. Three human cancer cell lines were used for antiproliferative potential: human lung cancer cell line (A549), human esophageal cancer cell line (Eca-109) and human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). The results have shown that these zinc complexes have good inhibitory effects on cancer cells, which are better than that of the commonly used clinical drug cisplatin. The ability of the complexes to binding to CT-DNA was studied by UV spectroscopy and fluorescence titration, while the interaction between the complexes and CT-DNA, AT6, GC6 short-chain DNA sequences and G-quadruplex were analyzed by circular dichroism (CD). It is found that these complexes can bind to DNA, and the binding mode is mainly intercalator. The docking of the complexes with the DNA fragment was simulated using molecular docking software. All the results clearly display that the substituents at these ligands of the complexes have the substitution effects on the properties of photoluminescence, antiproliferative potential and DNA binding study.

Photoluminescent properties in perylene PVD films: Influence of molecular aggregates and supramolecular arrangement

Organic thin films are at the forefront of basic studies and applications in the field of physics, chemistry, biochemistry and materials science. For example, the intrinsic supramolecular arrangement, or simply the formation of aggregates may alter the optical and electrical properties, which would impact the potential applications of the material. Here, an attempt is made to correlate the molecular structures of two perylene derivatives, bis butylimido perylene (BuPTCD) and bis phenethylimido perylene (PhPTCD), with their film formation, in particular, the supramolecular arrangement and the photoluminescent properties. Emission spectra show that the PhPTCD has a radiative efficiency (RE) higher than that for BuPTCD when both are in solutions (monomers). Complementary, regarding PVD films, UV-Vis absorption measurements reveal that PhPTCD forms, predominantly, J aggregates, which are responsible for perylene derivative emission. However, BuPTCD PVD films are found to provide higher RE than PhPTCD PVD film. This apparent controversy could be explained considering other features such as crystallinity and molecular organization. The PVD film of BuPTCD is crystalline while PhPTCD PVD film is amorphous; BuPTCD has an edge-on while PhPTCD has a face-on molecular organization in PVD films.

Novel orange and reddish-orange color emitting BaGd2O4:Sm3+ nanophosphors by solvothermal reaction for LED and FED applications

BaGd2O4 (BG):Sm(3+) nanophosphors were synthesized by a solvothermal reaction method. The powder X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed their orthorhombic structure, and the morphological studies were carried out by taking the scanning and transmission electron microscopy images. The photoluminescence (PL) emission and PL excitation (PLE) spectra were investigated as a function of Sm(3+) ion concentration. The PLE spectra revealed both Gd(3+) and Sm(3+) excitation bands in the shorter and longer wavelength regions, indicating that the efficient energy transfer occurred from the Gd(3+) to Sm(3+) ions in the BG host lattice. The PL spectra exhibited an intense orange emission due to ((4)G5/2→(6)H7/2) transition along with two other moderate intense emission peaks due to the ((4)G5/2→(6)H5/2) and ((4)G5/2→(6)H9/2) transitions. Based on the emission performance related to ((4)G5/2→(6)H7/2) transition, the Sm(3+) ion concentration was optimized to be at 1 mol%. The low-voltage cathodoluminescent (CL) measurements were also performed for BG:1 mol% Sm(3+) nanophosphors as a function of accelerating voltage and filament current. From the CL spectra, the reddish-orange emission was observed. The Commission International De I-Eclairage chromaticity coordinates of BG:Sm(3+) nanophosphors were found to be very close to the chromaticity coordinates of Nichia Corporation developed amber light-emitting diodes.