Nanophotonics (Jun 2024)

Thermo-responsive circularly polarized luminescence from carbon quantum dots in a cellulose-based chiral nematic template

  • Shi Haidong,
  • Zhu Jiaxin,
  • Deng Yaxuan,
  • Yang Yanling,
  • Wang Changxing,
  • Liu Yihan,
  • Zhang Wanlong,
  • Luo Dan,
  • Chen Da,
  • Shi Yue

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2024-0091
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 19
pp. 3679 – 3688

Abstract

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Circularly polarized light emitting active materials are of great interest, and the convenient tuning of the circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) remains a significant challenge. Integrating fluorescent materials into chiral photonic crystals to achieve tunable CPL is a promising approach, allowing efficient manipulation of CPL by adjusting the photonic band gap (PBG). We combined carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), which self-assembles into a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC). The helical structure can selectively reflect right circularly polarized (RCP) light, achieving strong circular dichroism (CD) and high CPL dissymmetry factor g lum. In addition, the chiral template is thermo-responsive. The CPL wavelength can be adjusted by regulating the PBG position through temperature adjustment, while the chirality of CPL keeps high especially in the heating process. This work enables stimuli-responsive manipulation of CPL under one template through temperature regulation, which may open up enormous possibilities for the cellulose-based material in different areas.

Keywords