Contribution of Metal Defects in the Assembly Induced Emission of Cu Nanoclusters.
Aggregation/assembly induced emission (AIE) has been observed for metal nanoclusters (NCs), but the origin of the enhanced emission is not fully understood, yet. In this work, the significant contribution of metal defects on AIE is revealed by engineering the self-assembly process of Cu NCs using ethanol. The presence of ethanol leads to a rapid assembly of NCs into ultrathin nanosheets, promoting the formation of metal defects-rich surface. Detailed studies and computer simulation confirm that the metal defects-rich nanosheets possess increased Cu(I)-to-Cu(0) ratio, which greatly influences ligand-to-metal-metal charge transfer and therewith facilitates the radiative relaxation of excitons. Consequently, the Cu NCs self-assembly nanosheets exhibit obvious emission enhancement.
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.|Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) , Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Zhennan
Z
Wu
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
Huiwen
H
Liu
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
Tingting
T
Li
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
Jiale
J
Liu
Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) , Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Jun
J
Yin
Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) , Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Omar F
0000-0001-8500-1130
OF
Mohammed
Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, KAUST Solar Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) , Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Osman M
0000-0002-3428-1002
OM
Bakr
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
Yi
0000-0003-0548-6073
Y
Liu
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
Bai
0000-0002-3873-075X
B
Yang
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
Hao
0000-0002-2373-1100
H
Zhang