A new way of modulating color emissions from transparent films
In a breakthrough discovery, scientists find a peculiar but simple route
for tuning the color of emissions from a transparent membrane: the proton flow


Date:
September 2, 2020
Source:
Tokyo University of Science
Summary:
Transparent luminescent materials have several applications; but
so far, few multicolor light-emitting solid transparent materials
exist in which the color of emission is tunable. Now, a team of
scientists has developed an unprecedented mechanism to tune the
photoemission of a solid polymeric film -- controlling the flow
of protons in it by applying a voltage.

Their study provides fresh insights into the creation of more
efficient multicolor transparent luminescent materials.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Scientists are looking at luminescent transparent films for use in energy- efficient displays (such as LED screens) and other applications, and the possibilities it opens up for advancing methodologies in several fields of biological and electronics research. However, although multicolor-emitting transparent solid films have been developed, finding efficient ways to
tune the color and intensity of light emissions has been challenging.


==========================================================================
Now, in a recent paper published in The Royal Society of Chemistry's
Materials Advances, a novel mechanism for easily tuning the luminescence
of a newly modified light-emitting solid transparent material is described
-- it involves simply modulating its proton concentration (or pH) via
the application of a voltage.

This material was developed in the lab of Professor Makoto Tadokoro, an inorganic chemist and materials scientist at Tokyo University of Science
in Japan. Prof Tadokoro and his team, including Dr. Hajime Kamebuchi from
Nihon University, Japan, and Mr. Taiho Yoshioka from Tokyo University of Science, began with a transparent polymeric film called Nafion. Nafion
films are well- known as proton-conductors (materials in which electricity
is conducted via the movement of protons) and cation exchangers (materials
that readily attract positively charged particles). These two properties
proved key to the luminescence control afforded by the material that it
would eventually help form.

A third property of Nafion that made it even more useful for Prof
Tadokoro's team is its molecular structure. Nafion's structure allowed "complexes" of two metals, terbium (Tb) and europium (Eu), which are
known to be light emitters, to be embedded in it when it was dipped in
a solution containing the metal complexes. Thus, the fabrication process
of the material was simple and inexpensive.

When the final product -- a metal-complex-containing polymeric film --
was immersed in an acidic solution (pH 2-5; proton donor), it turned
green. Soaked in an alkaline solution (pH 9-12; proton acceptor),
it turned red. In a neutral solution (pH 6-8), it turned yellow (a
combination of red and green).

Spectroscopic analysis told the authors why these specific color changes
were occurring. In acidic solutions, the protons taken up by Nafion were 'turning on' the Tb metal ions, but not the Eu metal ions. In alkaline solutions, Eu metal ions took the spotlight and emissions from the Tb ions
were quenched. In neutral solutions, both emitted light. This confirmed
that the proton concentration gradient within the material determined
its luminescence.

The scientists were then able to easily tune the luminescence by hooking
the material to a battery after dipping it in an acidic solution. The
acidic solution made the material green. But upon application of a
voltage, as protons moved towards the negatively charged side of the
material, the proton-deficient positively charged side began to turn
red. The central portion of the material became yellow. Prof Tadokoro
says, "We think that this was the most challenging part of our study --
and incidentally also our biggest success. The finding that the flow of
protons in a solid medium under an electric field can be controlled,
which in turn allows us to control the 'color' of emitted light,
is unprecedented. In biological systems, ion flows are responsible
for many essential biochemical activities. The 'solid-state ionics' demonstrated by us can find applications in a lot of different fields."
When further asked about the practical significance of his work, Prof
Tadokoro says, "Our findings show that it is possible to fabricate
inexpensive multicolor emitting glass or film materials whose emissions
can be tuned by simply applying a voltage to control the proton flow,
and therefore proton gradient, within the material. In other words,
not only electron conduction, but proton conduction can be a way in
which the luminescence of materials is controlled." But, while this
study is a big step in the journey to achieving transparent emitters
for a wide range of applications -- such as detecting pH gradients in biological cells or constructing novel displays and illuminators -- the
device developed here is not quite ready for the market. Prof Tadokoro
says, "We are now trying to add a blue light emitting complex into our
system, so that we can obtain a material that can emit light over the
entire visible spectrum." Once that is achieved, the sciences will
be advanced a little bit more, and a new generation of highly tunable multicolor-emitting materials may not be too far away!

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Tokyo_University_of_Science. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Hajime Kamebuchi, Taiho Yoshioka, Makoto Tadokoro. Development of
tuneable green-to-red emitting transparent film based on Nafion with
TbIII/EuIII b-diketonate complexes modulated by pH and proton flow.

Materials Advances, 2020; 1 (4): 569 DOI: 10.1039/d0ma00237b ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200902114409.htm

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