Generation of Tunable Ultrastrong White-Light Emission by Activation of a Solid Supramolecule through Bromonaphthylpyridinium Polymerization

Herein, we reported solid supramolecular bromonaphthylpyridinium polymers (P-BrNp), which exhibit tunable phosphorescence emission in the amorphous state enabled by sulfobutylether-beta-cyclodextrin (SBE-beta-CD) and diarylethene derivatives. The monomer BrNp gave single fluorescence emission at 490 nm, while an apparent room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) at 550 nm emerged for P-BrNp copolymers with various feed ratios. Through fluorescence-phosphorescence dual emission, P-BrNp-0.1 displayed an ultrahigh white-light emission quantum yield of 83.9 %. Moreover, the subsequent assembly with SBE-beta-CD further enhanced the phosphorescent quantum yield of P-BrNp-0.1 from 64.1 % to 71.3 %, accompanied by the conversion of photoluminescence emission from white to yellow. Diarylethene monomers were introduced as photoswitches to realize reversible RTP emission, which can be used in switchable data encryption and multifunctional writing ink.

Automated summary

In this study, solid supramolecular bromonaphthylpyridinium polymers (P-BrNp) with tunable phosphorescence emission were reported, enabled by sulfobutylether-beta-cyclodextrin (SBE-beta-CD) and diarylethene derivatives. The addition of SBE-beta-CD enhanced the phosphorescent quantum yield of P-BrNp and changed the photoluminescence emission color. Diarylethene monomers were used as photoswitches to achieve reversible RTP emission.