Issue 39, 2022

Origin of the polychromatic photoluminescence of zeolite confined Ag clusters: temperature- and co-cation-dependent luminescence

Abstract

Zeolite confined silver clusters (AgCLs) have attracted extensive attention due to their remarkable luminescent properties, but the elucidation of the underlying photophysical processes and especially the excited-state dynamics remains a challenge. Herein, we investigate the bright photoluminescence of AgCLs confined in Linde Type A zeolites (LTA) by systematically varying the temperature (298–77 K) and co-cation composition (Li/Na) and examining their respective influence on the steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence. The observed polychromatic emission of the tetrahedral Ag4(H2O)n2+ clusters ranges from orange to violet and three distinct emitting species are identified, corresponding to three long-lived triplet states populated consecutively and separated by a small energy barrier. These long-lived species are at the origin of the polychromatic luminescence with high photoluminescence quantum yields. Furthermore, the Li-content dependence of decay times points to the importance of guest–host–guest interactions in tuning the luminescent properties with a 43% decrease of the dominating decay time by increasing Li content. Based on our findings, a simplified model for the photophysical kinetics is proposed that identifies the excited-state processes. The results outlined here pave the way for a rational design of confined metal clusters in various frames and inspire the specified applications of Ag-zeolites.

Graphical abstract: Origin of the polychromatic photoluminescence of zeolite confined Ag clusters: temperature- and co-cation-dependent luminescence

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
07 Jun 2022
Accepted
17 Aug 2022
First published
24 Aug 2022
This article is Open Access

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

Chem. Sci., 2022,13, 11560-11569

Origin of the polychromatic photoluminescence of zeolite confined Ag clusters: temperature- and co-cation-dependent luminescence

L. Sun, M. Keshavarz, G. Romolini, B. Dieu, J. Hofkens, F. de Jong, E. Fron, M. B. J. Roeffaers and M. Van der Auweraer, Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 11560 DOI: 10.1039/D2SC03197C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements