Circularly polarized room-temperature phosphorescence based on chiral co-assembled helical nanofiber from chiral co-assembled liquid crystal co-polymer

The design of excellent circularly polarized room-temperature phosphorescence (CP-RTP) materials remains a significant challenge. To date, there has been no report on inducing CP-RTP utilizing a chiral supramolecular co-assembled strategy in liquid crystal media. This study designed and synthesized three achiral co-polymers (P1/P2/P3) to co-assemble with chiral inducer R/S-I as (R/S-I)m-(P1/P2/P3)n. Among them, P2/P3 self-assembled into a nematic crystal (N-LCs) phase, while P1 was an amorphous co-polymer. All P1/P2/P3 solutions exhibited weak dual phosphorescence emission behavior at 77 K. Interestingly, co-polymers P1/P2 exhibited strong phosphorescence emission in film under ambient conditions, which originated from the radical anions. Notably, the chiral co-assembled films (R-I)m-(P1/P2)n displayed rapid photochromic properties and stronger RTP triggered by photothermal synergy. After UV irradiation, the chiral co-assembled film (R/S-I)0.23–(P2)0.77-UV emitted stronger CP-RTP (λem = 592 nm, gem = ±7.89 × 10-2, and ΦPhos = 12.00 %) due to the formation of helical nanofibers. The information protection and delivery capabilities were demonstrated through the establishment of Morse code.