Cascade Energy Transfer and White‐Light Emission in Chirality‐Controlled Crystallization‐Driven Two‐Dimensional Co‐assemblies from Donor and Acceptor Dye‐Conjugated Polylactides

Abstract

Achieving predictable and programmable two‐dimensional (2D) structures with specific functions from exclusively organic soft materials remains a scientific challenge. This article unravels stereocomplex crystallization‐driven self‐assembly as a facile method for producing thermally robust discrete 2D‐platelets of diamond shape from degradable semicrystalline polylactide (PLA) scaffolds. The method involves co‐assembling two PLA stereoisomers, namely, PY‐PDLA and NMI‐PLLA, which form stereocomplex (SC)‐crystals in isopropanol. By conjugating a well‐known Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) donor and acceptor dye, namely, pyrene (PY) and naphthalene monoimide (NMI), respectively, to the chain termini of these two interacting stereoisomers, a thermally robust FRET process can be stimulated from the 2D array of the co‐assembled dyes on the thermally resilient SC‐PLA crystal surfaces. Uniquely, by decorating the surface of the SC‐PLA crystals with an externally immobilized guest dye, Rhodamine‐B, similar diamond‐shaped structures could be produced that exhibit pure white‐light emission through a surface‐induced two‐step cascade energy transfer process. The FRET response in these systems displays remarkable dependence on the intrinsic crystalline packing, which could be modulated by the chirality of the co‐assembling PLA chains. This is supported by comparing the properties of similar 2D platelets generated from two homochiral PLLAs (PY‐PLLA and NMI‐PLLA) labeled with the same FRET pair.