Carbon Dots in Hydroxy Fluorides: Achieving Multicolor Long-Wavelength Room-Temperature Phosphorescence and Excellent Stability via Crystal Confinement

Abstract

Carbon dots (CDs) have aroused widespread interest in the construction of room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials. However, it is a great challenge to obtain simultaneous multicolor long-wavelength RTP emission and excellent stability in CD-based RTP materials. Herein, a novel and universal "CDs-in-YOHF" strategy is proposed to generate multicolor and long-wavelength RTP by confining various CDs in the Y(OH)_<i>x</i>F_3-<i>x</i> (YOHF) matrix. The mechanism of the triplet emission of CDs is related to the space confinement, the formation of hydrogen bonds and C-F bonds, and the electron-withdrawing fluorine atoms. Remarkably, the RTP lifetime of orange-emissive CDs-o@YOHF is the longest among the reported single-CD-matrix composites for emission above 570 nm. Furthermore, CDs-o@YOHF exhibited higher RTP performance at long wavelength in comparison to CDs-o@matrix (matrix = PVA, PU, urea, silica). The resulting CDs@YOHF shows excellent photostability, thermostability, chemical stability, and temporal stability, which is rather favorable for information security, especially in a complex environment.