Dynamics of small molecules within the F127 PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer gel and sol phases studied at the molecular scale

The dynamics of naphthalene derivatives with different hydrophobicities bound to F127 polyethyleneoxide-polypropyleneoxide-polyethyleneoxide (PEO-PPO-PEO) micelles in the gel and sol phases were studied using a quenching methodology for the triplet excited states of the naphthalenes. Studies with triplet excited states probe a larger reaction volume than the volumes accessible when using fluorescent singlet excited states. The use of triplet excited states enables the determination of the dynamics between different compartments of a supramolecular system, which in the case of F127 micelles are the micellar core, the micellar corona and the aqueous phase. This report includes laser flash photolysis studies for the four naphthalene derivatives in the F127 gel and sol phases. The triplet excited states were quenched using the nitrite anion as the quenchers. The association and dissociation rate constants of the naphthalenes from the micelles and the quenching rate constants for the naphthalenes bound to the micelles were determines from the curved quenching plot (observed decay rate constant vs. nitrite concentration).

Manipulating spatial alignment of donor and acceptor in host-guest MOF for TADF

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) was achieved when electron-rich triphenylene (Tpl) donors (D) were confined to a cage-based porous MOF host (NKU-111) composed of electron-deficient 2,4,6-tri(pyridin-4-yl)-1,3,5-triazine (Tpt) acceptor (A) as the ligand. The spatially-separated D and A molecules in a face-to-face stacking pattern generated strong through-space charge transfer (CT) interactions with a small singlet-triplet excited states energy splitting (∼0.1 eV), which enabled TADF. The resulting Tpl@NKU-111 exhibited an uncommon enhanced emission intensity as the temperature increased. Extensive steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic measurements and first-principles simulations revealed the chemical and electronic structure of this compound in both the ground and low-lying excited states. A double-channel (T1, T2) intersystem crossing mechanism with S1 was found and explained as single-directional CT from the degenerate HOMO-1/HOMO of the guest donor to the LUMO + 1 of one of the nearest acceptors. The rigid skeleton of the compound and effective through-space CT enhanced the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). A maximum PLQY of 57.36% was achieved by optimizing the Tpl loading ratio in the host framework. These results indicate the potential of the MOFs for the targeted construction and optimization of TADF materials.

Mononuclear Copper(I) 3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazole Complexes: The Crucial Role of Phosphine on Photoluminescence

A series of emissive Cu(I) cationic complexes with 3-(2-pyridyl)-5-phenyl-pyrazole and various phosphines: dppbz (1), Xantphos (2), DPEPhos (3), PPh3 (4), and BINAP (5) were designed and characterized. Complexes obtained exhibit bright yellow-green emission (ca. 520–650 nm) in the solid state with a wide range of QYs (1–78%) and lifetimes (19–119 µs) at 298 K. The photoluminescence efficiency dramatically depends on the phosphine ligand type. The theoretical calculations of buried volumes and excited states explained the emission behavior for 1–5 as well as their lifetimes. The bulky and rigid phosphines promote emission efficiency through the stabilization of singlet and triplet excited states.

Energy transfer in luminescence composite materials based on mesogenic europium (III) complexes and some semiconducting polymers according to quantum-chemical simulation

A TDDFT study of energy transfer processes in luminescence composite materials based on mesogenic europium (III) complexes with substituted β-diketones and Lewis bases and some semiconducting polymers is presented. The calculated energies of the lowest singlet and triplet excited states of ligands and polymers were used to construct the energy level diagrams and indentify the main channels of intramolecular energy transfer. A system of a complex and a polymer, which is most preferable for practical application in optoelectronics, was selected. The simulated data agree well with the experiment.

Theoretical Insight Into the Ultralong Room-Temperature Phosphorescence of Nonplanar Aromatic Hydrocarbon

Purely aromatic hydrocarbon materials with ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) were reported recently, but which is universally recognized as unobservable. To reveal the inherent luminescent mechanism, two compounds, i.e., PT with a faint RTP and HD with strong RTP featured by nonplanar geometry, were chosen as a prototype to study their excited-state electronic structures by using quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) model. It is demonstrated that the nonplanar ethylene brides can offer σ-electron to strengthen spin-orbit coupling (SOC) between singlet and triplet excited states, which can not only promote intersystem crossing (ISC) of S1→Tn to increase the population of triplet excitons, but also accelerate the radiative decay rate of T1→S0, and thus improving RTP. Impressively, the nonradiative decay rate only has a small increase, owing to the synergistic effect between the increase of SOC and the reduction of reorganization energy of T1→S0 caused by the restricted torsional motions of aromatic rings. Therefore, a bright and long-lived RTP was obtained in aromatic hydrocarbon materials with twisted structure. This work provided a new insight into the ultralong RTP in pure organic materials.