Issue 18, 2020

From a blue to white to yellow emitter: a hexanuclear copper iodide nanocluster

Abstract

Highly emissive copper(I) halide nanoclusters showing thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) have been paid much attention, but rarely reported so far. Herein, a hexanuclear copper(I) iodide cluster containing a tridentate N∧P∧N ligand, [Cu6I6(ppda)2] {ppda = 2-[2-(dimethylamino)phenyl(phenyl)phosphino]-N,N-dimethylaniline}, was synthesized. All six copper atoms are four-coordinate, including four CuPNI2 and two CuI4 units. This complex exhibits intense white emission in the powder state at room temperature and shows a peak at a wavelength of 535 nm (ΦPL = 0.36) with a microsecond lifetime (τ = 4.4 μs). Emission colors can be largely tuned from blue to white to yellow, from the crystal to powder to film state at 297 K. The emission of [Cu6I6(ppda)2] originates from a combination of MLCT and XLCT transitions. This complex showed good thermal stability. A solution-processed, nondoped device of complex [Cu6I6(ppda)2] exhibits stable yellow emission with the CIE coordinates (x, y) of (0.43, 0.51). [Cu6I6(ppda)2] also shows reasonable photocatalytic H2 evolution activity under visible-light irradiation.

Graphical abstract: From a blue to white to yellow emitter: a hexanuclear copper iodide nanocluster

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Dec 2019
Accepted
02 Apr 2020
First published
03 Apr 2020

Dalton Trans., 2020,49, 5859-5868

From a blue to white to yellow emitter: a hexanuclear copper iodide nanocluster

K. Xu, B. Chen, R. Zhang, L. Liu, X. Zhong, L. Wang, F. Li, G. Li, K. A. Alamry, F. Li, W. Wong and H. Qin, Dalton Trans., 2020, 49, 5859 DOI: 10.1039/C9DT04701H

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