Preparation of tunable emissive poly(ethylene oxide) nanofibers by doping with TPP and DCM

Abstract

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) nanofibers that were doubly-doped with a donor, 1,3,5-triphenyl-2-pyrzoline (TPP), and an acceptor, 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethyl-aminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM), were prepared by electrospinning to be 200-300 nm in diameter. Fluorescence from DCM was caused by non-radiative Forster-type fluorescence resonance energy transfer from photo-excited TPP to DCM. The color of the fluorescence from the PEO-TPP/DCM nanofibers was controllable through variation of the TPP:DCM molar ratio and ranged from blue to orange to white.

Functionalized polymer nanofibers: a versatile platform for manipulating light at the nanoscale

“…10,14,16 Polymer nanofibers doped with typical dye molecules of perylene, fluorescein sodium salt, Ru(bpy) 3 Cl 2 and zinc phthalocyanine (from left to right) are shown in Figure 1a; the emission colors of blue, green, orange and red correspond well to the characteristic emission of the four dopants. Meanwhile, by simultaneously doping multiple dye molecules with different emission bands in the initial polymer solvents, light-emitting polymer nanofibers with broadband emission 16,64 can be readily fabricated. As shown in Figure 5a and 5b, by codoping three different dyes (rhodamine B, perylene and zinc phthalocyanine) in the proper weight ratios, white light-emitting PS nanofibers (Figure 5b) can be obtained.…”

“…As shown in Figure 5a and 5b, by codoping three different dyes (rhodamine B, perylene and zinc phthalocyanine) in the proper weight ratios, white light-emitting PS nanofibers (Figure 5b) can be obtained. 16 Additionally, by controlling the molar ratio of the different dyes, it is possible to tune the emission color of the nanofiber; for example, Zhang et al 64 prepared PEO nanofibers doubly doped with a blue light emitter (1,3,5-triphenyl-2-pyrzoline, TPP) and a red light emitter (4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethyl-aminostyryl)-4H-pyran, DCM) and tuned their emission color across a broad spectral range by changing the molar ratio of the dyes (Figure 5c-5f). These color-tunable light-emitting polymer nanofibers can be exploited as nanoscale light sources and integrated into optical sensing for lab-on-chip applications.…”

“…(b) Photoluminescence spectrum of the doped PS nanofiber 16. Fluorescence microscopy images of (c) PEO-TPP, (d) PEO-TPP/DCM (1/0.005), (e) PEO-TPP/DCM (1/0.02) and (f) PEO-DCM nanofibers 64. Figures reproduced with permission: a, b, Gu et al, 16 ß 2010 ACS; c-e, Zhang et al, 64 ß 2012 Springer.…”