Simultaneous Multi‐Resonant Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence and Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Biluminescent Nitrogen‐Containing Indolocarbazoles

Abstract Organic biluminescence, the simultaneous emission from both the singlet and triplet excited state manifolds, is a rare and incompletely understood emission process. However, biluminescent compounds have wide‐reaching applications, such as in sensing, anti‐counterfeiting, and optoelectronics...

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Main Authors: Oliver S. Lee, Aidan P. McKay, David B. Cordes, Stuart L. Warriner, Malte C. Gather, Eli Zysman‐Colman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-08-01
Series:Advanced Science
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202503175
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author Oliver S. Lee
Aidan P. McKay
David B. Cordes
Stuart L. Warriner
Malte C. Gather
Eli Zysman‐Colman
author_facet Oliver S. Lee
Aidan P. McKay
David B. Cordes
Stuart L. Warriner
Malte C. Gather
Eli Zysman‐Colman
author_sort Oliver S. Lee
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Organic biluminescence, the simultaneous emission from both the singlet and triplet excited state manifolds, is a rare and incompletely understood emission process. However, biluminescent compounds have wide‐reaching applications, such as in sensing, anti‐counterfeiting, and optoelectronics, owing to the complex interplay of excited states having distinct spectral profiles and lifetimes. Herein, the biluminescence of a family of polycyclic aromatic heterocycles known as nitrogen‐containing indolocarbazoles (NICz) is described. As 1 wt.% doped films in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), these compounds exhibit dual fluorescence/room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) with λPL in the near‐UV (≈375 nm) and green (≈500 nm), respectively, and remarkably long phosphorescence lifetimes extending into the multi‐second regime. This RTP is shown to persist even at doping concentrations as low as 0.1 wt.%. Additionally, two of the emitters exhibit multi‐resonant thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR‐TADF)/RTP biluminescence, which, to the best of knowledge, would be the first examples of such behavior. Finally, insight is provided into the dependence of these competing emission pathways on the temperature and concentration, with supporting wavefunction‐based computations.
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spelling doaj-art-a0895d3f41ed4777908749b0ddfebf3c2025-08-20T03:41:08ZengWileyAdvanced Science2198-38442025-08-011229n/an/a10.1002/advs.202503175Simultaneous Multi‐Resonant Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence and Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Biluminescent Nitrogen‐Containing IndolocarbazolesOliver S. Lee0Aidan P. McKay1David B. Cordes2Stuart L. Warriner3Malte C. Gather4Eli Zysman‐Colman5Organic Semiconductor Centre EaStCHEM School of Chemistry University of St Andrews St Andrews KY16 9ST UKOrganic Semiconductor Centre EaStCHEM School of Chemistry University of St Andrews St Andrews KY16 9ST UKOrganic Semiconductor Centre EaStCHEM School of Chemistry University of St Andrews St Andrews KY16 9ST UKSchool of Chemistry University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT UKOrganic Semiconductor Centre SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy University of St Andrews St Andrews KY16 9SS UKOrganic Semiconductor Centre EaStCHEM School of Chemistry University of St Andrews St Andrews KY16 9ST UKAbstract Organic biluminescence, the simultaneous emission from both the singlet and triplet excited state manifolds, is a rare and incompletely understood emission process. However, biluminescent compounds have wide‐reaching applications, such as in sensing, anti‐counterfeiting, and optoelectronics, owing to the complex interplay of excited states having distinct spectral profiles and lifetimes. Herein, the biluminescence of a family of polycyclic aromatic heterocycles known as nitrogen‐containing indolocarbazoles (NICz) is described. As 1 wt.% doped films in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), these compounds exhibit dual fluorescence/room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) with λPL in the near‐UV (≈375 nm) and green (≈500 nm), respectively, and remarkably long phosphorescence lifetimes extending into the multi‐second regime. This RTP is shown to persist even at doping concentrations as low as 0.1 wt.%. Additionally, two of the emitters exhibit multi‐resonant thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR‐TADF)/RTP biluminescence, which, to the best of knowledge, would be the first examples of such behavior. Finally, insight is provided into the dependence of these competing emission pathways on the temperature and concentration, with supporting wavefunction‐based computations.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202503175biluminescenceMR‐TADFRTP
spellingShingle Oliver S. Lee
Aidan P. McKay
David B. Cordes
Stuart L. Warriner
Malte C. Gather
Eli Zysman‐Colman
Simultaneous Multi‐Resonant Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence and Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Biluminescent Nitrogen‐Containing Indolocarbazoles
Advanced Science
biluminescence
MR‐TADF
RTP
title Simultaneous Multi‐Resonant Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence and Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Biluminescent Nitrogen‐Containing Indolocarbazoles
title_full Simultaneous Multi‐Resonant Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence and Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Biluminescent Nitrogen‐Containing Indolocarbazoles
title_fullStr Simultaneous Multi‐Resonant Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence and Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Biluminescent Nitrogen‐Containing Indolocarbazoles
title_full_unstemmed Simultaneous Multi‐Resonant Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence and Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Biluminescent Nitrogen‐Containing Indolocarbazoles
title_short Simultaneous Multi‐Resonant Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence and Room Temperature Phosphorescence from Biluminescent Nitrogen‐Containing Indolocarbazoles
title_sort simultaneous multi resonant thermally activated delayed fluorescence and room temperature phosphorescence from biluminescent nitrogen containing indolocarbazoles
topic biluminescence
MR‐TADF
RTP
url https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202503175
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