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Polish scientists develop new class of high-efficiency light-emitting materials

13.06.2025 23:45
Researchers in Poland have developed a new class of highly efficient light-emitting materials that could play a key role in future display technologies, optical sensors and bioimaging tools.
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The discovery was made by a team from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Warsaw University of Technology, led by Janusz Lewiński, in collaboration with Andrew E. H. Wheatley from the University of Cambridge.

The study highlights Poland’s growing contribution to the global field of materials science, particularly in the search for sustainable and scalable alternatives to rare or expensive elements.

The materials belong to a group known as luminophores—substances that emit visible light after being excited by an energy source.

They are particularly valuable in modern optoelectronics, which includes devices that convert electrical signals into light, such as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, energy-efficient lighting, and diagnostic imaging technologies.

While the field of organometallic photochemistry has long been dominated by complexes containing transition and rare earth metals, the Polish team focused on aluminium, a lightweight and abundant metal.

Although many metal complexes based on aminobenzoates (chemical compounds derived from aminobenzoic acid) have been studied, aluminium-based versions had not been considered serious candidates for light emission, until now.

Using commercially available derivatives of anthranilic acid, the researchers created a series of novel aluminium complexes with a unique molecular structure.

These compounds were studied using advanced imaging and spectroscopic techniques, and the results were striking.

By making small changes to the molecular components, such as swapping a hydrogen atom for a methyl or phenyl group, the team was able to fine-tune the compounds’ light-emitting properties.

One of the new aluminium-based compounds reached a photoluminescence quantum yield of 100 percent in solid form – an unprecedented result for materials in this category.

Photoluminescence quantum yield is a key measure of how efficiently a material can convert energy into light.

According to the researchers, this work represents a major step forward in designing simple, accessible and stable fluorescent materials with high performance.

The ability to easily modify the chemical structure allows further improvements in durability and brightness, making the materials strong candidates for commercial use in lighting, display screens and optical sensors.

(rt/gs)

Source: naukawpolsce.pl