Continuous broadband emission from a metal–organic framework as a human-friendly white light source

Abstract

Natural white light emission from a single component, a novel strontium(II)-based metal–organic framework, {[Sr(ntca)(H₂O)₂]·H₂O}_n (1) was achieved. Compound 1 exhibited a remarkable continuous broadband emission with the highest sensitivity at around 550 nm, making it more physically comfortable for the human eye. The continuous spectrum of compound 1 also closely resembles the sunlight spectrum with a CCT of 5451 K, producing a natural white light. An alkaline earth metal (Sr) is used as the metal node in the preparation of the compound which is more environmentally friendly as compared with commonly used lanthanides in luminescent materials. This natural white light emitter with a pleasant effect on human visibility, and without any doping of lanthanide promises to open up new perspectives for the development of high-performance solid-state lighting sources.