Ln 3+ -Induced Diblock Copolymeric Aggregates for Fully Flexible Tunable White-Light Materials

• Published in: Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2019-03, Vol.9 (3)
• Main Authors: Wang, Xinzhi, Tang, Jianguo, Wang, Guanghui, Wang, Wei, Ren, Junjie, Ding, Wei, Zhang, Xinbo, Wang, Yao, Shen, Wenfei, Huang, Linjun, Belfiore, Laurence A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2079-4991; 2079-4991

In this research contribution, nano-aggregates have been fabricated by introducing lanthanide (Ln ) ions into solutions of amphiphilic diblock copolymers of polystyrene-b-poly (acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA). The coordination of acrylic acid segments to lanthanide cations induces diblock copolymer (BCPs) self-assembly in order to design stable white luminescent hybrid nanoparticles with fine uniform particle size. The introduction of Ln ions (Eu and Tb ) bestows the micelles, precisely white light, upon excitation of 342 nm. Lanthanide coordination cross-linking of poly (acrylic acid) segments, or blocks, endows the micelles higher thermal stability than that of BCPs micelles without cross-linking. As the most important key point of this work, the regular and stable nano-particles with high emission quality can make fully flexible electroluminescent devices with self-formation or uncoordinated into polymer hosts. Instead of inorganic luminescent nanoparticles with hard cores, this method can potentially apply for fully flexible white-light emitting diodes (FFWLEDs).