Color-tunable luminescent ionic liquid crystals have been designed as a new series of luminescent materials. To achieve tuning of emission colors, intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) character has been incorporated into tripodal molecules. A series of the compounds has three chromophores in each molecule, incorporated with both electron-donating moieties such as alkylaminobenzene and alkoxybenzene, and electron-accepting moieties such as pyridinium, pyrimidinium, and quinolinium parts. These C(3)-symmetrical molecules self-assemble into liquid-crystalline (LC) columnar (Col) structures over wide temperature ranges through nanosegregation between ionic moieties and nonionic aliphatic chains. Photoluminescent (PL) emissions of these tripodal molecules are observed in the visible region both in the self-assembled condensed states and in solutions. For example, a pyrimidinium salt with didodecylaminobenzene moieties exhibits yellowish orange emission (λ(em) = 586 nm in a thin film). Multicolor PL emissions are successfully achieved by simple tuning of changing electron-donating and electron-accepting moieties of the compounds, covering the visible region from blue-green to red. It has been revealed that ICT processes in the excited states and weak intermolecular interactions play important roles in the determination of the PL properties of the materials, by measurements of UV-vis absorption and emission spectra, fluorescence lifetimes, and PL quantum yields.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.