Supramolecular glasses with color-tunable circularly polarized afterglow through evaporation-induced self-assembly of chiral metal–organic complexes

Abstract

The fabrication of chiral molecules into macroscopic systems has many valuable applications, especially in the fields of optical displays, data encryption, information storage, and so on. Here, we design and prepare a serious of supramolecular glasses (SGs) based on Zn-L-Histidine complexes, via an evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) strategy. Metal-ligand interactions between the zinc(II) ion and chiral L-Histidine endow the SGs with interesting circularly polarized afterglow (CPA). Multicolored CPA emissions from blue to red with dissymmetry factor as high as 9.5 × 10−3 and excited-state lifetime up to 356.7 ms are achieved under ambient conditions. Therefore, this work not only communicates the bulk SGs with wide-tunable afterglow and large circular polarization, but also provides an EISA method for the macroscopic self-assembly of chiral metal–organic hybrids toward photonic applications.

Macrocycle γ-Cyclodextrin Confined Polymeric Chromophore Ultralong Phosphorescence Energy Transfer

“…Ultralong lifetime luminescent materials have received tremendous attention due to their potential applications such as flexible electronics, anticounterfeiting, information storage, etc. − Organic phosphorescence materials have unique features such as excellent optical properties and good processability. − Many brilliant strategies have been developed to improve organic phosphorescence performance, such as polymerization, − crystallization, − and supramolecular assembly. − Prominently, the macrocycle-confined supramolecular assembly has emerged as an alternative and preferable choice for constructing efficient phosphorescent materials. , However, most phosphorescence systems based on host–guest complexes are driven by electrostatic interactions; for example, cucurbiturils prefer positively charged guests more than uncharged guests. On the contrary, macrocyclic molecule cyclodextrins consisting of glucose units have a stable hydrophobic cavity, which prefers to accommodate uncharged or negatively charged guests, and the abundant hydroxyl provides the ideal environment to suppress the nonradiative transition for phosphors. − Although good results have been realized via various enhancement strategies, the afterglow duration of most organic phosphorescence materials is still on the seconds-scale.…”

Unraveling Ultralong Phosphorescence in Ar2PO(H): n(O) → σ*(P-C) Transitions in Ar2PO(H) Stabilize Triplet States Better than n(P) → σ*(P-C) in Ar3P

“…On the other hand, to counter the non-radiative decay of T 1 → S 0 , researchers have employed various methods, including crystallization, host-guest chemistry, doping into polymer matrices, or aggregation-induced luminescence. ,− However, the laborious processing, difficulty in managing triplet state energy, controlling rigidity of the matrix, and high sensitivity toward the molecular oxygen limit their practical applicability. Thus, the design and development of new phosphors with improved phosphorescence characteristics have become an important area of research.…”

Activating Molecular Room-Temperature Phosphorescence by Manipulating Excited-State Energy Levels in Poly(vinyl alcohol) Matrix

“…RTP has the potential for a new generation of organic optoelectronic materials and biomedical agents due to their long lifetime and spin multiplicity. − However, persistent lifetime and efficient quantum yield are still obstacles, limiting its practical applications. PVA-based RTP materials contributed significantly to the area.…”