Organic Persistent Luminescent Materials: Ultralong Room-Temperature Phosphorescence and Multicolor-Tunable Afterglow

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Organic Chemistry
• Photophysics

Background:

• Organic persistent luminescent materials are crucial for optoelectronics, sensors, and security.
• Developing stable, efficient organic room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and synthesize novel organic compounds with twisted donor-acceptor structures.
• To create single-molecular organic RTP materials via in situ polymerization.
• To investigate the photophysical properties and potential applications of these RTP materials.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of organic compounds (1-4) with twisted electron donor-acceptor architectures.
• In situ polymerization of synthesized compounds in methyl methacrylate (MMA) to form RTP materials (P1-P4).
• Characterization of photoluminescence properties, including lifetime measurements and spectral analysis of single crystals.

Main Results:

• Successful synthesis of four organic compounds (1-4) and their corresponding RTP polymers (P1-P4).
• All RTP materials demonstrated long luminescence lifetimes, with P2 achieving an ultralong lifetime of 1.51 s.
• Single crystals exhibited multicolor-tunable afterglow due to dual emission (phosphorescence and delayed fluorescence).

Conclusions:

• The developed single-molecular organic RTP materials possess excellent luminescence properties, including long and ultralong lifetimes.
• The multicolor-tunable afterglow from single crystals presents a promising avenue for high-level anticounterfeiting technologies.
• This work expands the scope of organic persistent luminescent materials for advanced applications.