Interplay of molecular dynamics and radiative decay of a TADF emitter in a glass-forming liquid

John R. Swartzfager, Gary Chen, Tommaso Francese, Giulia Galli, John B. Asbury

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigate the role of molecular dynamics in the luminescent properties of a prototypical thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitter, NAI-DMAC, in solution using a combination of temperature dependent time-resolved photoluminescence and absorption spectroscopies. We use a glass forming liquid, 2-methylfuran, to introduce an abrupt change in the temperature dependent diffusion dynamics of the solvent and examine the influence this has on the emission intensity of NAI-DMAC molecules. Comparison of experiment with first principles molecular dynamics simulations reveals that the emission intensity of NAI-DMAC molecules follows the temperature-dependent self-diffusion dynamics of the solvent. A marked reduction of emission intensity is observed as the temperature decreases toward the glass transition because the rate at which NAI-DMAC molecules can access emissive molecular conformations is greatly reduced. Below the glass transition, the diffusion dynamics of the solvent changes more slowly with temperature, which causes the emission intensity to decrease more slowly as well. The combination of experiment and computation suggests a pathway by which TADF emitters may transiently access a distribution of conformational states and avoid the need for an average conformation that strikes a balance between lower singlet-triplet energy splittings versus higher emission probabilities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3151-3159
Number of pages9
JournalPhysical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Volume25
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 9 2023

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Interplay of molecular dynamics and radiative decay of a TADF emitter in a glass-forming liquid'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this