Selective Encapsulation and Enhancement of the Emission Properties of a Luminescent Cu(I) Complex in Mesoporous Silica

10/15/2019 12:00:00 AM

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Authors:Loïc Donato, Youssef Atoini, Eko Adi Prasetyanto, Pengkun Chen, Céline Rosticher, Claudia Bizzarri, Kari Rissanen, Luisa De Cola

Publication date: 3 January 2018

Helvetica Chimica Acta (Helv Chim Acta)

Volume:  101, 1-7

Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hlca.201700273

 

 

We describe  a synthetic  approach  to prepare  new  luminescent  silica-based materials  through  the  encapsulation of a neutral copper(I) complex  inside the  pores  of mesoporous  silica nanoparticles  (MSN). The copper(I) complex  is present,  in the  solid state, as two polymorphs,  blue and yellow emissive, and in solution it shows a pale yellow color that   is  also  mirrored  by  an  emission  in  the  yellow-orange  region  of  the  electromagnetic  spectrum.   The  X-ray structures  of single crystals have been  obtained  for both  polymorphs.  The complex encapsulation  in MSN is achieved by its entrapment inside micelles followed by condensation of the  silica source. Interestingly,  the  entrapment leads to  the  isolation  of  only  one  species.  Indeed,  the  compound  inside  the  MSN exhibits  remarkable  photophysical properties,  showing an intense  blue emission in solution and in the solid state. Powder X-ray diffraction of the hybrid materials  proves  that  the  complex  entrapped in MSN is indeed  the  blue  polymorph.  The con?nement provides  not only a method  to isolate only one  form of the  complex, but  also a certain  rigidity, more  stability of the  system  by protection   of  the   complex   from  undesirable   oxidation,   leading   to   a   highly  emissive  material   possessing   a photoluminescence quantum yield of 65%.

 

Keywords:  copper  complex, silica, encapsulation,  luminescence,  polymorph