Adding blue to manganese-based lighting materials

Manganese-based organic-inorganic metal halides (OIMHs) are promising candidates for the next generation of lead-free multicolor lighting. The fabrication of these materials is cheap, and the manganese atoms allow good green and red luminescence. However, blue emission, which is necessary for generating white light, is missing.

Cai et al. developed a convenient way to add an independent blue luminescent center to manganese-based OIMHs. Their method achieves full-color display with the addition of the blue-emitting organic compound methylbenzylamine.

The emission color of these manganese-based OIMHs can be tuned to red, green, blue, and white with different excitation wavelengths. This full-spectral emission in manganese-based OIMHs could help them find footing in a new range of applications, including anti-counterfeiting technology.

To demonstrate their feasibility in optical anti-counterfeiting technology, the authors dissolved a manganese-based composite called MBAMnCl in alcohol, which allowed them to spray the material onto a substrate. Under cheap ultraviolet lights, the deposited MBAMnCl could emit stable red, blue, and white colors.

“Our results indicate the great promise of manganese-based OHIMs as new-generation emitters and anti-counterfeiting materials,” said author Jiajun Qin. “We believe that our results would be appealing for those working on lighting and display technology.”

Next, the authors will improve the applicability of manganese-based OHIMs in anti-counterfeiting technology by incorporating identification procedures that are even easier to use than ultraviolet lights, such as moisture and temperature. They also plan to help advance manganese-based OHIMs lighting technology.

“Our work is only a tiny step of exploration,” Qin said. “It would be quite challenging but promising to fabricate manganese-based LEDs in the future.”

Source: “Multicolor light emission in manganese-based metal halide composites,” by Weidong Cai, Chaoyang Kuang, Tianjun Liu, Yuequn Shang, Jia Zhang, Jiajun Qin, and Feng Gao, Applied Physics Reviews (2022). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0108010 .

This paper is part of the open Flexible and Smart Electronics Collection, learn more here .