title: Crystallization-induced emission enhancement in a phosphorus-containing heterocyclic luminogen.
abstract: Whereas aggregation often quenches luminescence, the emission of a heterocyclic luminogen, 10-[2,5-bis(4-pentyloxyphenylcarbonyloxy)phenyl]-9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (3), is greatly enhanced by aggregate formation. Crystallization further boosts the emission of 3, turning it from a weak emitter in the solution state to a strong emitter in the crystalline state. The emission of 3 is changed in response to the exposure to vapors of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The morphology of the thin film of 3 is reversibly and repeatedly modulated between amorphous and crystalline phases by simple fuming-heating and heating-cooling cycles, leading to an emission switching between bright and dark states. The novel attributes of the crystallization-induced emission enhancement, the VOC-responsive emission change, and the morphology-tunable emission switching of 3 could enable it to find applications in an array of technological areas, including chemosensing, optical display, and rewritable information storage.
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering and College of Science, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Jinbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Jianbing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Junge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhi
authors.forename: Yongqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yuping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Jacky W Y
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ben Zhong
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Tang