Doublet-triplet energy transfer dominated photon upconversion

Abstract

Stable luminescent pi-radicals with doublet emission have aroused a growing interest for functional molecular materials. We have demonstrated a neutral pi-radical dye (4-N-carbazolyl-2,6-dichlorophenyl)bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)-methyl (TTM-1Cz) with remarkable doublet emission, which could be used as triplet sensitizer to initiate the photophysical process of triplet-triplet annihilation photon upconversion (TTA-UC). Dexter-like excited doublet-triplet energy transfer (DTET) was confirmed by theoretical calculation. A mixed solution of TTM-1Cz and aromatic emitters could ambidextrous upconvert red light to cyan light or green light = 532 nm) to blue light. This finding of DTET phenomena provides a new perspective in designing new triplet sensitizer for TTA-UC.