Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637371, Singapore.
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing 400054, China.
Acc Chem Res. 2022 Apr 19;55(8):1160-1170. doi: 10.1021/acs.accounts.2c00038. Epub 2022 Apr 8.
Long-lived organic room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have recently drawn extensive attention because of their promising applications in information security, biological imaging, optoelectronic devices, and intelligent sensors. In contrast to conventional fluorescence, the RTP phenomenon originates from the slow radiative transition of triplet excitons. Thus, enhancing the intersystem crossing (ISC) rate from the lowest excited singlet state (S) to the excited triplet state and suppressing the nonradiative relaxation channels of the lowest excited triplet state (T) are reasonable methods for realizing highly efficient RTP in purely organic materials. Over the past few decades, many strategies have been designed on the basis of the above two crucial factors. The introduction of heavy atoms, aromatic carbonyl groups, and other heteroatoms with abundant lone-pair electrons has been demonstrated to strengthen the spin-orbit coupling, thereby successfully facilitating the ISC process. Furthermore, the rigid environment is commonly constructed through crystal engineering to restrict intramolecular motions and intermolecular collisions to decrease excited-state energy dissipation. However, most crystal-based organic RTP materials suffer from poor processability, flexibility, and reproducibility, becoming a thorny obstacle to their practical application.Amorphous organic polymers with long-lived RTP characteristics are more competitive in materials science. The intertwined structures and long chains of polymers not only ensure the rigid environment with multiple interactions but also protect triplet excitons from the surroundings, which are conducive to realizing ultralong and bright RTP emission. Exploring the fabrication strategies, intrinsic mechanisms, and practical applications of organic long-lived RTP polymers is highly desirable but remains a formidable challenge. In particular, intelligent organic RTP polymer systems that are capable of dynamically responding to external stimuli (e.g., light, temperature, oxygen, and humidity) have been rarely reported. To develop multifunctional RTP materials and expand their potential applications, a great amount of effort has been expended.This Account gives a summary of the significant advances in amorphous organic RTP polymer systems, especially smart stimulus-responsive ones, focusing on the construction of a rigid environment to suppress nonradiative deactivation by abundant inter/intramolecular interactions. The typical interactions in RTP polymer systems mainly include hydrogen bonding, ionic bonding, and covalent bonding, which can change the molecular electronic structures and affect the energy dissipation channels of the excited states. An in-depth understanding of intrinsic mechanisms and an extensive exploration of potential applications for excitation-dependent color-tunable, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-activated, temperature-dependent, water-responsive, and circularly polarized RTP polymer systems are distinctly illustrated in this Account. Furthermore, we propose some detailed perspectives in terms of materials design, mechanism exploration, and promising application potential with the hope to provide helpful guidance for the future development of amorphous organic RTP polymers.
长寿命有机室温磷光(RTP)材料由于在信息安全、生物成像、光电设备和智能传感器等领域的潜在应用而受到广泛关注。与传统荧光相比,RTP 现象源于三重态激子的缓慢辐射跃迁。因此,提高从最低激发单线态(S)到激发三重态的系间穿越(ISC)速率并抑制最低激发三重态(T)的非辐射弛豫通道是实现纯有机材料中高效 RTP 的合理方法。在过去的几十年中,基于上述两个关键因素设计了许多策略。已经证明,引入重原子、芳香羰基和其他具有丰富孤对电子的杂原子可以增强自旋轨道耦合,从而成功促进 ISC 过程。此外,通常通过晶体工程构建刚性环境来限制分子内运动和分子间碰撞,以减少激发态能量耗散。然而,大多数基于晶体的有机 RTP 材料在加工性、柔韧性和重现性方面存在缺陷,成为其实际应用的一个棘手障碍。具有长寿命 RTP 特性的无定形有机聚合物在材料科学中更具竞争力。聚合物的交织结构和长链不仅确保了具有多种相互作用的刚性环境,而且还保护三重态激子免受周围环境的影响,这有利于实现超长和明亮的 RTP 发射。探索有机长寿命 RTP 聚合物的制备策略、内在机制和实际应用是非常可取的,但仍然是一个巨大的挑战。特别是,能够对外界刺激(例如光、温度、氧气和湿度)动态响应的智能有机 RTP 聚合物系统很少有报道。为了开发多功能 RTP 材料并扩展其潜在应用,已经付出了大量努力。
本综述主要关注通过丰富的分子内/分子间相互作用构建刚性环境来抑制非辐射失活,对无定形有机 RTP 聚合物体系,特别是智能刺激响应型 RTP 聚合物体系的重要进展进行了总结。RTP 聚合物体系中的典型相互作用主要包括氢键、离子键和共价键,它们可以改变分子的电子结构并影响激发态的能量耗散通道。本综述深入探讨了激发依赖性可调色彩、紫外(UV)辐照激活、温度依赖性、水响应和圆偏振 RTP 聚合物体系的内在机制和潜在应用,并提出了一些详细的观点,以期为无定形有机 RTP 聚合物的未来发展提供有价值的指导。