All Organic Nanofibers As Ultralight Versatile Support for Triplet-Triplet Annihilation Upconversion

We present a method for the fabrication of ultralight upconverting mats consisting of rigid polymer nanofibers. The mats are prepared by simultaneously electrospinning an aqueous solution of a polymer with pronounced oxygen-barrier properties and functional nanocapsules containing a sensitizer/emitter couple optimized for triplet-triplet annihilation photon upconversion. The optical functionality of the nanocapsules is preserved during the electrospinning process. The nanofibers demonstrate efficient upconversion fluorescence centered at λ_max = 550 nm under low intensity excitation with a continuous wave laser (λ = 635 nm, power = 5 mW). The pronounced oxygen-barrier property of the polymer matrix may efficiently prevent the oxygen penetration so upconversion fluorescence is registered in ambient atmosphere. The demonstrated method can be used for the production of upconverting ultralight porous coatings for sensors or upconverting membranes with freely variable thickness for solar cells.