Day-Long Persistent Luminescence in Intrinsically Integrated Donor-Acceptor Carbon Dots Enabled by Defect-Mediated...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Photonic Technologies
• Organic Electronics

Background:

• Long-persistent luminescence (LPL) materials are crucial for advanced photonic technologies.
• Developing stable, integrated donor-acceptor (D-A) systems for tunable, day-scale LPL remains a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create intrinsically integrated D-A carbon dots with tunable, day-scale LPL.
• To explore the mechanism behind the observed long-lasting luminescence and color tunability.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized nitrogen-doped carbon dots with covalently coupled arylboronic acid acceptors via B-N linkages.
• Investigated the photophysical properties, including charge transfer dynamics and trap state stabilization.
• Modulated acceptor electronic structure to tune the emission color.

Main Results:

• Achieved continuously tunable LPL from deep blue to yellow-green.
• Demonstrated day-scale persistence up to 36 hours and naked-eye visible afterglow exceeding 4 hours.
• Established a D-A-trap design principle for ultralong LPL and acceptor engineering for multicolor emission.

Conclusions:

• The developed integrated D-A carbon dots offer a promising platform for ultralong, tunable LPL.
• Potential applications include high-resolution displays, anti-counterfeiting, and information encryption.
• This work provides a rational strategy for designing multicolor persistent luminescence materials.