Photoluminescence properties of copolyimides containing naphthalene core and analysis of excitation energy transfer between the dianhydride moieties

Abstract

The photoluminescence (PL) properties of semi-aromatic polyimide (PI) films and their model compounds (MCs) prepared from dianhydrides having a rigid naphthalene core were analyzed. The PMMA-dispersed MC and copolymerized PI (CoPI) films derived from 2,3,6,7-naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (NTDA) exhibited long-lived phosphorescence owing to the suppression of molecular motion by the rigidity of a naphthalene core. Additionally, the PMMA-dispersed MC and the CoPI films derived from 1,5-dibromo derivative of NTDA (DBrNT) exhibited room-temperature phosphorescence due to the enhancement of spin-orbit coupling by bromine atoms. The photophysical processes of the CoPI films prepared from NTDA/DBrNT and 4,4'-oxydiphtalic dianhydride (ODPA) in which the latter absorption band is located at a shorter wavelength than the former were analyzed. After UV irradiation, efficient excitation energy transfer occurs from the ODPA to NTDA/DBrNT moieties, and only the emission from the latter moieties was observed. These results demonstrate that the CoPI films derived from two dianhydrides absorbing different UV wavelengths can be used as spectral conversion films that convert a wide range of UV-light into longer wavelength visible light.