According to a new study published by chemical researchers in the journal Chem, by formulating positively charged fluorescent dyes in a new class of materials called small molecule ion isolation lattices (SMILES), the glow of a compound can be transferred seamlessly to a solid, crystalline state.
The breakthrough overcomes a barrier to the development of fluorescent solids, resulting in the brightest materials known to date.
Fluorescent solids
Although there are currently more than 100,000 different fluorescent dyes available, almost none of these can be mixed and combined in a predictable way to create solid optical materials. Dyes tend to 'go out' when they enter a solid state because of how they behave when packed closely together, decreasing the intensity of their fluorescence to produce a dimmer glow.
To overcome this problem, a colored dye has been mixed with a colorless solution of cyanostar, a star-shaped macrocycle molecule that prevents fluorescent molecules from interacting as the mixture solidifies, keeping its optical properties intact.
As the mixture became a solid, SMILES were formed, which the researchers then turned into crystals, precipitated into dry powders, and finally spun into a thin film or incorporated directly into polymers. Since cyanostar macrocycles form building blocks that generate a checkerboard lattice, researchers could simply plug a dye into the lattice and, without further adjustment, the structure would take on its color and appearance.
According to Amar Flood, a chemist at Indiana University and co-lead author of the study, along with Bo Laursen, from the University of Copenhagen:
These materials have potential applications in any technology that requires bright fluorescence or requires engineered optical properties, including solar energy harvesting, bioimaging, and lasers.
Beyond these, there are interesting applications including upconversion of light to capture more of the solar spectrum in solar cells, light switching materials used for information storage and photochromic glass, and circularly polarized luminescence that can be use in 3-D visualization technology.
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The news
These are the brightest fluorescent materials ever devised.
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.