Issue 6, 2023

The unexpected mechanism of transformation from conventional room-temperature phosphorescence to TADF-type organic afterglow triggered by simple chemical modification

Abstract

The study of transformation of photophysical behaviours in organic afterglow systems has emerged as an important topic, whereas the transformation in the reported studies only gives change of afterglow colour, duration or intensity. Herein, we report a serendipitous finding of the mechanism of afterglow transformation from conventional RTP to TADF-type organic afterglow triggered by simple chemical modification of coronene systems; usually, chemical modification can only lead to spectral shifts of luminescent systems. Coronene molecules show typical RTP behaviours when doped in organic matrices. After being substituted by difluoroboron β-diketonate moieties, the coronene-containing materials exhibit a TADF-type organic afterglow mechanism, which features a moderate kRISC to harvest triplet energies, enhance afterglow efficiency, and maintain long afterglow lifetimes. Interestingly, the TADF-type afterglow materials can be excited by visible lights, possess emission wavelength > 600 nm and PLQY > 40%, display excellent processability into desired patterns and aqueous dispersion, and function as high-contrast in vivo bioimaging agents. The present study provides a unique pathway for the manipulation of triplet excited states to fabricate high-performance organic afterglow materials.

Graphical abstract: The unexpected mechanism of transformation from conventional room-temperature phosphorescence to TADF-type organic afterglow triggered by simple chemical modification

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Dec. 2022
Accepted
10 Janv. 2023
First published
11 Janv. 2023

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023,11, 2291-2301

The unexpected mechanism of transformation from conventional room-temperature phosphorescence to TADF-type organic afterglow triggered by simple chemical modification

M. Wu, J. Li, J. Huang, X. Wang, G. Wang, X. Chen, X. Li, X. Chen, S. Ding, H. Zhang and K. Zhang, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023, 11, 2291 DOI: 10.1039/D2TC05261J

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