Herein we report a rational design strategy for tailoring intermolecular interactions to enhance room-temperature phosphorescence from purely organic materials in amorphous matrices at ambient conditions. The built-in strong halogen and hydrogen bonding between the newly developed phosphor G1 and the poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix efficiently suppresses vibrational dissipation and thus enables bright room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) with quantum yields reaching 24%. Furthermore, we found that modulation of the strength of halogen and hydrogen bonding in the G1-PVA system by water molecules produced unique reversible phosphorescence-to-fluorescence switching behavior. This unique system can be utilized as a ratiometric water sensor.
Keywords: halogen bonds; hydrogen bonds; purely organic phosphors; room-temperature phosphorescence; water sensors.
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