ESIPT fluorophores derived from 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone based carbon dots for dual emission and multiple anti-counterfeiting.

Fluorophores and hydrogen bonding interactions play key roles in the fluorescence properties of bottom-up carbon dots. In this work, an excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer (ESIPT) active fluorophore, 5-chloro-6-ethoxy-4,7-dihydroxyisoindoline-1,3-dione (CEDD) and a non-ESIPT 7-cyano-5,8-dihydroxyquinoxaline-6-carboxamide (CDQC) are extracted from 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone (DDQ) based carbon dots. The enol form of CEDD shows a weak blue, small Stokes shift and short lifetime emission under the aprotic or alkali conditions, but the keto form exhibits a strong green, large Stokes shift and long lifetime emission in a protic or an acidic environment. Due to the lack of the ESIPT process, CDQC has no dual emission characteristics, but shows efficient solid-state emission. By virtue of the ESIPT ability of CEDD, multiple anti-counterfeiting methods are achieved by using hydrogen chloride, ammonia, and fluorescence lifetime imaging, as well as dimethyl sulfoxide as the encryption/decryption tools.

Polymer spacer tunable Purcell-enhanced spontaneous emission in perovskite quantum dots coupled to plasmonic nanowire networks.

Lead halide perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) have recently been proposed as a scalable and color-tunable quantum source, but their slow spontaneous emission creates a mismatch with high-speed nanophotonic devices. Here, we demonstrate fast and bright emission in PQD films coupled to silver nanowire networks (NWKs), in which polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is used as a spacer to regulate the lossy characteristics of the plasmonic cavity. Compared with bare quartz, the PVA substrate shows a considerable enhancement effect on the apparent emission intensity, but a reduction in the emission rate of PQD excitons. The efficient NWK-PQD coupling generates an increase in the emission intensity of a factor of 6.0 (average 3.4) and simultaneously a 2.4-fold (average 1.9) enhancement in the emission rate. However, an opposite PVA spacer thickness dependence for Purcell factor and quantum yield is observed, indicating that the fast and bright emission would be a trade-off between the Purcell-enhanced radiative rate and large metal loss. These results are believed to provide fundamental guidance on plasmonic cavity design for perovskite-based nanophotonic devices.

Insight into the multiple quasi-molecular states in ethylenediamine reduced graphene nanodots.

Recently, graphene nanodots (GNDs) have been frequently considered as inherently heterogeneous systems, leading to multicolor emission under a changeable excitation wavelength. However, an accurate picture of the GNDs and an exhaustive structure-property correlation are still lacking. Using a two dimensional photoluminescence excitation (2D-PLE) map, molecular orbital calculation, reduction level dependent PL analysis, absorption spectroscopy and time-resolved PL spectroscopy, three cases of quasi-molecular PL are determined in ethylenediamine (EDA) reduced GNDs, including the C[double bond, length as m-dash]O related electronic state, graphenol related electronic state and large π-conjugated domains. The graphenol structure is expected to be created via nucleophilic addition-elimination reactions between epoxide groups and EDA, contributing most to the blue-shifted and enhanced PL of GNDs. The multiple quasi-molecular PL provides deeper insights into the commonly called "excitation wavelength dependent PL". An effort is made to utilize the heterogeneous photoluminescence through phosphor-based light-emitting diodes employing reduced GNDs as a phosphor, which are capable of converting blue light into white light.

Graphenol defects induced blue emission enhancement in chemically reduced graphene quantum dots.

In this work, few layer graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with a size of 3-5 nm are purposely treated with highly concentrated aqueous NaBH4 solutions to obtain the reduced graphene quantum dots (rGQDs). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy demonstrate that the number of carbonyl groups decreases but -OH related defects increase during chemical reduction. Green and weak emissions of original GQDs originate from carrier recombination in the disorder-induced localized state (mainly including carbonyl and carboxyl and epoxy groups). As the reduction degree increases, the photoluminescence (PL) quantum efficiency of GQDs increases dramatically from 2.6% to 10.1%. In the meantime, the PL peak position blue shifts rapidly, and full width at half maximum (FWHM) becomes narrower. Thus we can infer that graphenol topological defects (hydroxyl functionalized graphene) are gradually formed during reduction. Besides, graphenol defect related PL features a longer fluorescence lifetime, excitation wavelength dependence but less pH sensitivity.

Variations of structures and gas sorption properties of three coordination polymers induced by fluorine atom positions in azamacrocyclic ligands.

Three coordination polymers of [(NiL(1))(3)(TCBA)(2)] (1), [(NiL(2))(3)(TCBA)(2)] (2), and [(NiL(3))(3)(TCBA)(2)] (3) have been constructed using azamacrocyclic Ni(II) complexes [NiL(1)](ClO(4))(2)/[NiL(2)](ClO(4))(2)/[NiL(3)](ClO(4))(2) and TCBA(3-) as building blocks (L(1) = 3,10-bis(2-fluorobenzyl)-1,3,5,8,10,12-hexaazacyclotetradecane; L(2) = 3,10-bis(3-fluorobenzyl)-1,3,5,8,10,12-hexaazacyclotetradecane; L(3) = 3,10-bis(4-fluorobenzyl)-1,3,5,8,10,12- hexaazacyclotetradecane; TCBA(3-) = tri(4-carboxy-benzyl)amine). The results of X-ray diffraction analyses reveal that 1 shows a 2D Borromean structure, while 2 and 3 form 2D layer structures, and the 2D layers are further connected by the interlayer F···F interactions in 2 and C-H···F interactions in 3 to generate two 3D porous structures with 1D fluorine atoms interspersed channels. Gas sorption measurements illustrate that the desolvated 2 and 3can adsorb N(2), H(2), and CO(2) molecules. The different structures and gas sorption properties of 1 and 2/3 are mainly induced by the different positions of F atoms in azamacrocycle ligands.

Plasmon-mediated nonradiative energy transfer from a conjugated polymer to a plane of graphene-nanodot-supported silver nanoparticles: an insight into characteristic distance.

Hybrid nanostructures comprising conjugated polymers (CPs) and plasmonic metals show excellent performance in light harvesting. However, the energy transfer mechanism of the CP film to nearby metal nanoparticles, especially knowledge of the characteristic distance, is still unclear. Here, quenching of the emission of a CP film in proximity to a monolayer of graphene-nanodot-supported silver nanoparticles (GND-Ag NPs) is investigated. Uniform Ag NPs with D = 3.2 nm were grown on GNDs in situ under mild light irradiation, and a series of bilayer structures of GND-Ag NPs/CPs were constructed by spin-coating blue, green and red light-emitting poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PFO), poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) and poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV),respectively, on top of the GND-Ag NP plane. The spacer distance was controlled by the layers of assembled polyelectrolytes. Both steady and transient photoluminescence (PL) spectra showed emission quenching of the bilayer structures, providing the maximum efficiency of 99% for the F8BT films. The surface density of GND-Ag NPs and the spacer distance-dependent PL quenching data were analyzed within the plasmonic resonant energy transfer model, and the extracted characteristic distances are 6 nm, 3 nm and 10 nm for the PFO, F8BT and MEH-PPV systems, respectively. Current-sensing atomic force microscopy shows that the GND-Ag NPs/F8BT film exhibits enhanced electrical conductivity. These results are believed to be important for the development of plasmonic enhanced polymer photovoltaics and photocatalysis.

Constructions of two polycatenanes and one polypseudo-rotaxane by discrete tetrahedral cages and stool-like building units.

Mechanically Interlocked molecules, such as catenanes and rotaxanes, are of great interest due to their fascinating structures and potential applications, while such molecules have been mainly restricted to comprising components of interlocked rings or polygons. The constructions of infinite polycatenanes and polyrotaxanes by discrete cages remain great challenge, and only two infinite polycatenanes fabricated by discrete cages have been reported so far, while the structures of polyrotaxanes and polypseudo-rotaxanes fabricated by discrete build units have not been documented to date. Herein we report the first example of a two-dimensional (2D) polypseudo-rotaxane fabricated by stool-like build units, the second example of a one-dimensional (1D) polycatenane, and the second example of a three-dimensional (3D) polycatenane, which were assemblied by discrete tetrahedral cages. The pores of dehydrated 3D polycatenane are dynamic, and display size-dependent adsorption/desorption behaviors of alcohols.