Colour-tunable ultra-long organic phosphorescence of a single-component molecular crystal

Materials exhibiting long-lived, persistent luminescence in the visible spectrum are useful for applications in the display, information encryption and bioimaging sectors1–4. Herein, we report the development of several organic phosphors that provide colour-tunable, ultra-long organic phosphorescence (UOP). The emission colour can be tuned by varying the excitation wavelength, allowing dynamic colour tuning from the violet to the green part of the visible spectrum. Our experimental data reveal that these organic phosphors can have an ultra-long lifetime of 2.45 s and a maximum phosphorescence efficiency of 31.2%. Furthermore, we demonstrate the applications of colour-tunable UOP for use in a multicolour display and visual sensing of ultraviolet light in the range from 300 to 360 nm. The findings open the opportunity for the development of smart luminescent materials and sensors with dynamically controlled phosphorescence. Organic phosphors with ultra-long lifetimes and an emission colour that can be tuned by the excitation wavelength are reported.