Enabling long-lived organic room temperature phosphorescence in polymers by subunit interlocking.

Cai, Suzhi; Ma, Huili; Shi, Huifang; Wang, He; Wang, Xuan; Xiao, Leixin; Ye, Wenpeng; Huang, Kaiwei et al. · Nat Commun · 2019

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Long-lived room temperature phosphorescence (LRTP) is an attractive optical phenomenon in organic electronics and photonics. Despite the rapid advance, it is still a formidable challenge to explore a universal approach to obtain LRTP in amorphous polymers. Based on the traditional polyethylene derivatives, we herein present a facile and concise chemical strategy to achieve ultralong phosphorescence in polymers by ionic bonding cross-linking. Impressively, a record LRTP lifetime of up to 2.1 s in amorphous polymers under ambient conditions is set up. Moreover, multicolor long-lived phosphorescent emission can be procured by tuning the excitation wavelength in single-component polymer materials. These results outline a fundamental principle for the construction of polymer materials with LRTP, endowing traditional polymers with fresh features for potential applications.