Boosting FRET Efficiency of Chromophores with Aggregation-Caused Quenching by a Crystallization-Induced Precise Co-assembly Strategy

Qian Zhou, Xiaomin Zhang, Lijian Ning, Yuhui Song, Yanli Wang, Jinkun Feng, Chun-Lin Sun, Jun Li, Qiuyu Gong, Qichun Zhang*, Yinjuan Huang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

Abstract

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) plays a critical role in organic optoelectronic materials. However, developing facile and effective strategies to achieve high-efficiency energy harvesting of chromophores with aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) remains an appealing yet challenging task, that has not yet been explored. Herein, a subtly strategy, crystallization-induced precise co-assembly (CIPCA) involving a molecular “lightening agent,” to effectively improve FRET efficiency of ACQ chromophores is developed. Bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene (BPA) and bis(phenylethynyl)naphthacene (BPN) with significant ACQ effect are chosen as representative FRET donor and acceptor, respectively, and weakly-fluorescent octafluoronaphthalene (OFN) acted as the “lightening agent.” Thanks to precise co-assembly with OFN, the PLQY of solid BPA is enhanced by 107%, and the BPN powder can be unprecedentedly lighted. More importantly, through such powerful CIPCA, the monotonous and weak emission for BPA@BPN can be remarkably regulated to colorful and much brighter ones with FRET efficiency improvement of as high as 180–270%. An in-depth understanding of FRET regulation is elucidated through a precise correlation of the supramolecular structures and properties. Such achievements allow to successfully fabricate distinct multi-stimuli-responsive fluorescent patterns and highly-emissive colorful flowers with high flexibility. This research provides an efficient strategy to improve the FRET efficiency of ACQ pairs. © 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
Original languageEnglish
Article number2401439
JournalSmall Methods
DOIs
Publication statusOnline published - 30 Oct 2024

Funding

Q.Z. and X.Z. contributed equally to this work. Q.Z. is thankful for the funding support from the City University of Hong Kong (9380117, 7005620, 7020040, and 7020089) and the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P. R. China. Y. Huang is grateful for the start-up funds of the Youth Talent Support Program (CL6J024) from Xi'an Jiaotong University, the National Natural Science Foundation Youth Program (52203337), and Shaanxi Provincial High-Level Talent Plan Youth Project (2023SYJ10) and Qin Chuang Yuan High-Level Talents (2021QCYRC4-34). J.L. appreciates the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 22074121, 22075117) and the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (Program No. 2020JM-126). C.-L.S. thanks the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (lzujbky-2021-sp33, lzujbky-2021-27) and Supercomputing Center of Lanzhou University.

Research Keywords

  • ACQ Chromophores
  • Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)
  • high-efficiency energy harvesting
  • molecular lightening agent
  • precise co-assembly

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