Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanofibers Formed by Bottom-Up Hierarchical Self-Assembly

Organic-inorganic hybrid materials have been extensively used in sensing, bioimaging, and optoelectronics. In particular, photosensitive organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with a high aspect ratio are widely used in flexible electronics and light-emitting displays due to their efficient charge transfer properties. Herein, we report the fabrication of organic-inorganic hybrid nanofibers with excellent charge transfer performance. The nanofibers consisting of perylene imide (denoted as PDI), polyoxometalate (POM, H3PW12O40), and surface-active ionic liquid (IL, [N-C-12, N'-COOH-Im]Br) are obtained through a bottom-up hierarchical self-assembly process. First, POM and IL are utilized to construct nanoparticles (POM-IL) via ionic self-assembly. Then, the PDI/POM-IL nanofibers are constructed by self-assembly of POM-IL complexes and PDI via a rapid solution dispersion method. The formation of PDI/POM-IL nanofibers is confirmed by multielemental energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) measurements. Notably, the results of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicate that the main structures of PDI/POM-IL nanofibers and PDI fibers are similar. In addition, photoluminescence quenching of the PDI/POM-IL nanofibers is observed, testifying a valid charge transfer between PDI and POM-IL complexes. It is confirmed by various characterization methods such as fluorescence, time-resolved photoluminescence, quantum yield, and photodegradation. The results indicate that the bottom-up hierarchical self-assembly is a valid method for fabricating organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with great potential in sensing, bioimaging, and optoelectronics.

Automated summary

The synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid nanofibers with excellent charge transfer performance through a bottom-up hierarchical self-assembly process is reported. Various characterization methods confirmed the effective charge transfer in the PDI/POM-IL nanofibers, indicating the effectiveness of the self-assembly method for fabricating organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with great potential for applications.