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Prevalent Room-Temperature Phosphorescence in Natural Nuts.
Ruizhi Yang1, Hao Su1, Jiajun Song1
1Department of Chemical Physics, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
Journal of the American Chemical Society
|October 1, 2025
Summary
Natural nuts exhibit sustainable room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) due to dispersed aromatic nutrients. This discovery offers a clean, abundant alternative for RTP materials, with potential applications in data storage and sensing.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Organic Chemistry
- Biophysics
Background:
- Room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) is crucial for advanced applications but often relies on fossil fuel-based materials.
- There is growing interest in natural organic RTP, yet documented cases and understanding of structure-property relationships are limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize natural nuts exhibiting room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP).
- To elucidate the molecular origins and mechanisms behind nut-based RTP.
- To explore the potential of nuts as a sustainable source for RTP materials.
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive analysis of RTP characteristics in various natural nuts under ambient conditions.
- Spectroscopic investigations to determine the molecular origins of RTP from intrinsic nutrients.
- Modulation studies using trace polyaromatic phosphors to tune RTP properties.
Main Results:
- Natural nuts demonstrate seconds-long RTP at room temperature, dependent on excitation wavelength and composition.
- RTP originates from low-concentration aromatic vitamins, nucleobases, and amino acids within the nut matrix.
- RTP spans a broad spectrum (<400 to >700 nm) with colors tunable by excitation energy and trace phosphors.
Conclusions:
- Natural nuts represent a sustainable and abundant reservoir for clean RTP materials.
- The synergistic interplay between biomatrix and diverse aromatic nutrients governs excitation-dependent RTP.
- Nut-based RTP offers potential for developing cost-effective, large-scale luminescent materials for applications like multilevel information storage.
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