Supramolecular Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials via Through-Space Charge Transfer

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) polymeric materials based on through-space charge transfer (TSCT) have emerged as a highly studied topic in recent years. However, the construction of TSCT TADF materials via a supramolecular approach is still a big challenge. In this work, we report the noncovalent synthesis of TSCT TADF materials using a cyclic peptide-based bottle-brushed supramolecu-lar polymer as a scaffold. By bringing the TSCT donor and acceptor in close proximity in space using the supramolecular scaffold, distinctive TADF emission in both solution and solid states could be achieved. Furthermore, the TADF system could be utilized as a sensitizer to coassemble with fluorescence acceptors to build thermally assisted fluorescence systems, resulting in color-tunable delayed fluores-cence with high efficiency and color purity. Our find-ings provide a facile yet effective approach to designing and fabricating TSCT TADF materials, which might hold great potential for applications in the fields of organic light-emitting diode, bioima-ging, and sensing.