Anthracene-Resorcinol Derived Covalent Organic Framework as Flexible White Light Emitter

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Organic Chemistry
• Solid-State Lighting

Background:

• Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) offer tunable electronic properties for advanced applications.
• Developing efficient single-source white light emitters is crucial for next-generation solid-state lighting.
• Incorporating functional segments into COFs enables cooperative electronic behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize a novel COF-based material for white light emission.
• To investigate the mechanism and processability of the COF for solid-state lighting.
• To demonstrate the potential of COFs as single-source white light emitters.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of an anthracene-resorcinol-based COF.
• Characterization of optical properties, including steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy.
• Incorporation of the COF into a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer matrix.

Main Results:

• The synthesized COF exhibits dual emission due to keto-enol tautomers, enabling white light emission.
• A low loading (0.32 wt%) of the COF in PMMA yields a solvent-free film with intense white light (CIE coordinates (0.35, 0.36)).
• The white light emission mechanism was identified as fluorescence, with distinct contributions from anthracene and resorcinol units.

Conclusions:

• The study introduces a new class of readily processable, single-source white light emitters based on COFs.
• The designed COF demonstrates tunable dual emission, suitable for solid-state lighting applications.
• The cooperative electronic function within the COF structure is key to its white light emission properties.