Volume 9, Issue 4 2401439
Research Article

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

Qian Zhou

Qian Zhou

State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 P. R. China

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Xiaomin Zhang

Xiaomin Zhang

State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 P. R. China

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Lijian Ning

Lijian Ning

State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 P. R. China

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Yuhui Song

Yuhui Song

State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 P. R. China

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Yanli Wang

Yanli Wang

State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 P. R. China

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Jinkun Feng

Jinkun Feng

State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 P. R. China

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Chun-Lin Sun

Chun-Lin Sun

State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic, Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Special Function Materials and Structure Design, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Frontiers Science Center for Rare Isotopes Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000 P. R. China

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Jun Li

Jun Li

Key Laboratory of Special Functional and Smart Polymer Materials of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, No. 127, Youyi Road (West), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710072 P. R. China

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Qiuyu Gong

Qiuyu Gong

Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061 P. R. China

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Qichun Zhang

Corresponding Author

Qichun Zhang

Department Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Center of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF) & Hong Kong Institute of Clean Energy, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR, 999077 P. R. China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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Yinjuan Huang

Corresponding Author

Yinjuan Huang

State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 P. R. China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

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First published: 30 October 2024
Citations: 4

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.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no Conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.

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