Crystallization-induced emission enhancement of alkyl chain-dependent pyrene-based luminogens: Visual detection of nitro-explosives

Yu, Ze-Dong; Cao, Jing-Yi; Li, Hua-Long; Yang, Guang; Zhao, Wen-Xuan; Wang, Chuan-Zeng; Chen, Shu-Hai; Elsegood, Mark R.J.; Redshaw, Carl; Yamato, Takehiko

Abstract

In view of the widespread applications and urgent need for efficient blue emitting materials, the synthesis of such materials has seen renewed interest. In the present work, three alkyl chain-dependent blue emitting pyrene-based luminogens were synthesized and characterized. The experimental results show that these luminogens exhibited high photoluminescence efficiency both in solution (>86%) and in the solid state (>35%). Interestingly, 1,3,6,8-tetrakis (pentylphenyl)pyrene (TPPy), as a photoelectric functional material, was endowed with higher quantum yield (72%) and competitiveness due to a remarkable crystallization-induced emission enhancement (CIEE) property. More importantly, TPPy exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity for ortho-nitroaniline (o-NA) with low limit of detection (9.99 × 10−8 M), which is mainly due to the distinctive odd-even effects of the terminal alkyl chain. The results demonstrate that this type of luminogen can potentially be utilized for practical applications in the field of contaminant or explosive detection as a sensitive and portable fluorimeter.

Citation

Yu, Z., Cao, J., Li, H., Yang, G., Zhao, W., Wang, C., …Yamato, T. (2023). Crystallization-induced emission enhancement of alkyl chain-dependent pyrene-based luminogens: Visual detection of nitro-explosives. Journal of Luminescence, 253, Article 119439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2022.119439

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 17, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Oct 20, 2022
• Publication Date: 2023-01
• Deposit Date: Oct 21, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 21, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Luminescence
• Print ISSN: 0022-2313
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 253
• Article Number: 119439
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2022.119439
• Keywords: Crystallization-induced emission enhancement; Pyrene chemistry; Nitro-explosives; Sensing properties
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4100621