Room-Temperature Phosphorescence of Nicotinic Acid and Isonicotinic Acid: Efficient Intermolecular Hydrogen-Bond Interaction in Molecular Array

Hydrogen Bond "Double-Edged Sword Effect" on Organic Room-Temperature Phosphorescence Properties: A Theoretical Perspective

The strategy of designing efficient room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) emitters based on hydrogen bond interactions has attracted great attention in recent years. However, the regulation mechanism of the hydrogen bond on the RTP property remains unclear, and corresponding theoretical investigations are highly desired. Herein, the structure-property relationship and the internal mechanism of the hydrogen bond effect in regulating the RTP property are studied through the combination of quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics methods (QM/MM) coupled with the thermal vibration correlation function method. Intermolecular interactions, excited-state transition properties, reorganization energies, radiative and nonradiative decay rates, and the intersystem crossing rates are analyzed in detail. Results show that intermolecular hydrogen bonds can effectively delocalize molecular orbitals, enhance spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect, and thus accelerate intersystem crossing (ISC) processes. In addition, an intermolecular hydrogen bond can also suppress nonradiative transition by restricting molecular motion, thereby promoting generation of phosphorescence. However, an excessively enhanced intermolecular hydrogen bond effect promotes molecular vibrations, leading to increased reorganization energies and thus facilitating nonradiative energy consumption process. The hydrogen bond "double-edged sword" effect on RTP properties and nonradiative decay process is theoretically revealed. Therefore, reasonable control of the hydrogen bond strength is beneficial for the development of efficient RTP emitters. Our research provides rational explanations for previous measurements and highlights the hydrogen bond effect in constructing efficient RTP emitters.

Tunable Ultralong Room Temperature Phosphorescence Based on Zn(II)-Niacin Metal-Organic Complex: Accessible and Low-Cost

Long persistent luminescence (LPL) materials open up a new avenue for information security, anticounterfeiting technology, and bioimaging thanks to their unique luminescence characteristics like ultralong exciton migration distances and multiple-colored light emission. As materials that have value for commercial applications, they attract much attention. In this paper, inexpensive, accessible, and eco-friendly niacin is used as a ligand to combine with the universally used metal ion Zn(II) to form a crystallized metal-organic complex dubbed Zn-NA. The named material possesses an ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) with a lifetime of up to 265 ms under the atmosphere and up to 446 ms at 77 K. Notably, it exhibits a bright and multimode (excitation- and temperature-dependent) color-tunable LPL that changes from blue to cyan and then to yellow-green upon removal of the irradiation sources. Depending on its photoluminescence and theoretical calculations, the observed long-lived RTP of Zn-NA can be attributed to the coexistence of a single-molecule state induced by the heavy atom effect and an aggregated state within a dense crystalline structure.

Expounding the Relationship between Molecular Conformation and Room-Temperature Phosphorescence Property by Deviation Angle

Room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) emitters with ultralong lifetimes are attracting more and more attention for their wide applications. However, it is still a big challenge to achieve persistent organic afterglow because of the undefined relationship between molecular structures and RTP effect. Herein, diphenylamine (DPA) as a commonly used building block is selected as the molecular skeleton. Through incorporation of various alkyl moieties by ortho-substitution in different numbers and positions, RTP lifetimes can increase from 129 to 661 ms with the subtle adjustment of molecular conformations. It is summarized that the deviation angle (θ) of phenyl units in the DPA skeleton from the ideal p-π conjugated plane can act as the key parameter determining RTP lifetime, and the larger the θ values, the longer the RTP lifetimes. Furthermore, this result has been successfully applied as the universal principle to explain the RTP properties of various organic luminogens with DPA blocks and similar structures.

Green Synthesis of Phosphorescent Carbon Dots for Anticounterfeiting and Information Encryption

Room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) carbon dots (CDs) have promising applications in bioimaging, anticounterfeiting, and information encryption owing to their long lifetimes and wide Stokes shifts. Numerous researchers are interested in developing highly bright RTP CDs using environmentally friendly and safe synthesis processes (e.g., natural raw materials and zero-pollution production pathways). In this study, we successfully synthesized RTP CDs using a hydrothermal process employing natural vitamins as a raw material, ethylenediamine as a passivator, and boric acid as a phosphorescent enhancer, which is referred to as phosphorescent CD (PCD). The PCDs exhibit both bright blue fluorescence emission and green RTP emission, with a phosphorescence lifetime as long as 293 ms and an excellent green afterglow visible to the naked eye for up to 7.0 s. The total quantum yield is 12.69%. The phosphorescence quantum yield (PQY) is up to 5.15%. Based on the RTP performance, PCDs have been successfully employed for anticounterfeiting and information protection applications. The results of this study provide a green strategy for the scalable synthesis of RTP materials, which is a practical method for the fabrication of RTP materials with high efficiency and long afterglow lifetimes.