Deciphering a volcano-shaped relationship between radical stability and reticular electrochemiluminescence

Haocheng Xu, Rengan Luo, Haifeng Lv, Tianrui Liu, Qiaobo Liao, Yandong Wang, Ziyan Zhong, Xiaojun Wu (), Jianping Lei () and Kai Xi ()
Additional contact information
Haocheng Xu: Nanjing University
Rengan Luo: Nanjing University
Haifeng Lv: University of Science and Technology of China
Tianrui Liu: Nanjing University
Qiaobo Liao: Nanjing University
Yandong Wang: Nanjing University
Ziyan Zhong: Nanjing University
Xiaojun Wu: University of Science and Technology of China
Jianping Lei: Nanjing University
Kai Xi: Nanjing University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is a light-emitting process in which the stability of electrochemically generated radicals has a crucial impact on the efficiency and durability of excited state generation. Therefore, deciphering a relationship between radical stability and ECL performance is highly appealing. In this work, three sp2 carbon-conjugated covalent organic framework (COF) reticular nanoemitters compositing of same pyrene luminophores but different acrylonitrile linkers are designed with progressive electron affinities, named as CN-COF-1, 2, and 3. By precisely modulating the electron affinity of CN-COFs, a volcano relationship between ECL and radical stability is discovered with 78 folds enhancement in ECL intensity. Density functional theoretical calculations indicate that CN-COF-2 exhibits moderate radical stabilization capacity as well as efficient electron transport between the pyrene cores, facilitating ECL generation. Significantly, the appropriate radical stability of CN-COF-2 not only achieves the self-enhanced cathodic ECL but also promotes durability of the ECL intensity. The rational regulation of radical stability paves the way for developing efficient reticular nanoemitters and decoding the ECL fundamentals.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56009-3 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-56009-3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56009-3

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().