Issue 9, 2017

Bright persistent luminescence from pure organic molecules through a moderate intermolecular heavy atom effect

Abstract

Generally, strong phosphorescence always implies a short luminescence lifetime. So, pure organic molecules with strong persistent phosphorescence at room temperature are rarely explored. Here, a new strategy is used to explore strong persistent phosphorescence of carbazole derivatives through an intermolecular moderate heavy atom effect. Flexible alkyl chains were inserted between the heavy atom and carbazole moieties so as to avoid a strong internal heavy atom affect. The results indicate that the photoluminescence properties of crystals strongly depend on molecular stacking in crystal states. Moreover, seven molecules among eight carbazole derivatives exhibit persistent room-temperature phosphorescence in their crystals and the ΦP values of three compounds exceed 9.5%. Notably, when a 6-(4-bromophenoxy)hexyl group is linked to carbazole, the ambient phosphorescent quantum yield reaches 39.5% and the lifetime is as long as 200 ms. Moreover, it emitted white light with a luminescent efficiency of 72.6% owing to the coexistence of strong fluorescence and phosphorescence.

Graphical abstract: Bright persistent luminescence from pure organic molecules through a moderate intermolecular heavy atom effect

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
28 Sep 2015
Accepted
31 Oct 2015
First published
02 Nov 2015
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2017,8, 6060-6065

Bright persistent luminescence from pure organic molecules through a moderate intermolecular heavy atom effect

P. Xue, P. Wang, P. Chen, B. Yao, P. Gong, J. Sun, Z. Zhang and R. Lu, Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 6060 DOI: 10.1039/C5SC03739E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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