When
Presenter:
Dr. Amar Flood
Professor, Department of Chemistry, Indiana University
Abstract:
Fluorescence is critical to applications in optical materials including bioimaging, photonics, and solar energy harvesting. While fluorescent dyes are potential key components of these materials, electronic coupling between them in the solid state quenches their emission, preventing their reliable translation to applications. We recently discovered a universal solution to this long-standing problem with the creation of a class of materials called small-molecule ionic isolation lattices (SMILES). These SMILES materials perfectly transfer the optical properties of dyes to solids, are simple to make by mixing cationic dyes with anion-binding cyanostar macrocycles (see figure), and work with major classes of commercial dyes: xanthenes, oxazines, styryls, cyanines, trianguleniums. Dyes are decoupled spatially and electronically in the crystalline lattice by using cyanostar (see hierarchical assembly in the figure).
SMILES crystals have the highest known brightness per volume and solve concentration quenching to impart fluorescence to commercial polymers (see 3D printing in figure). SMILES materials enable predictable fluorophore crystallization to lay a basis for plug-and-play optical materials. We will present progress on understanding the energy transfer and crystal engineering, applying them to bioimaging and polariton condensates/lasers, and the development of a design framework for programming the SMILES materials.
