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Vol. 13 (2021)

Green and Near-Infrared Dual-Mode Afterglow of Carbon Dots and Their Applications for Confidential Information Readout

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-021-00718-z
Yuci Wang
College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, People’s Republic of China
Kai Jiang
International Joint Research Center for Photo‑Responsive Molecules and Materials, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People’s Republic of China
Jiaren Du
International Joint Research Center for Photo‑Responsive Molecules and Materials, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People’s Republic of China
Licheng Zheng
International Joint Research Center for Photo‑Responsive Molecules and Materials, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People’s Republic of China
Yike Li
College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, People’s Republic of China
Zhongjun Li
College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, People’s Republic of China
Hengwei Lin
International Joint Research Center for Photo‑Responsive Molecules and Materials, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Hengwei Lin

linghengwei@jiangnan.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 13 (2021), Article Number: 198

Abstract

Near-infrared (NIR), particularly NIR-containing dual-/multi-mode afterglow, is very attractive in many fields of application, but it is still a great challenge to achieve such property of materials. Herein, we report a facile method to prepare green and NIR dual-mode afterglow of carbon dots (CDs) through in situ embedding o-CDs (being prepared from o-phenylenediamine) into cyanuric acid (CA) matrix (named o-CDs@CA). Further studies reveal that the green and NIR afterglows of o-CDs@CA originate from thermal activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) of o-CDs, respectively. In addition, the formation of covalent bonds between o-CDs and CA, and the presence of multiple fixation and rigid effects to the triplet states of o-CDs are confirmed to be critical for activating the observed dual-mode afterglow. Due to the shorter lifetime and insensitiveness to human vision of the NIR RTP of o-CDs@CA, it is completely covered by the green TADF during directly observing. The NIR RTP signal, however, can be readily captured if an optical filter (cut-off wavelength of 600 nm) being used. By utilizing these unique features, the applications of o-CDs@CA in anti-counterfeiting and information encryption have been demonstrated with great confidentiality. Finally, the as-developed method was confirmed to be applicable to many other kinds of CDs for achieving or enhancing their afterglow performances.


Highlights:


1 A facile method was developed to achieve visible light (green) and near infrared dual-mode afterglow emissions from carbon dots (CDs)-based materials at ambient conditions for the first time.
2 We proposed a promising method in advanced information security applications through a special manner of readout.
3 The as-developed method was confirmed to be applicable to many kinds of CDs for achieving or enhancing their afterglow performances.

Keywords

Carbon dots Dual-mode afterglow Room temperature phosphorescence Thermal activated delayed fluorescence Information security
Wang, Yuci, Kai Jiang, Jiaren Du, Licheng Zheng, Yike Li, Zhongjun Li, and Hengwei Lin. 2021. “Green and Near-Infrared Dual-Mode Afterglow of Carbon Dots and Their Applications for Confidential Information Readout”. Nano-Micro Letters 13 (September):198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-021-00718-z.
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