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Adjustable emission of carbon dots and rhodamine B embedded in organic-inorganic hybrid gels for solid-state light devices

  • Original Paper: Sol-gel and hybrid materials for optical, photonic and optoelectronic applications
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Abstract

Transparent organic-inorganic SiO2-PMMA nanocomposites with different fluorescent carbon dots (CD) and rhodamine B (RB) volume ratios were obtained. Their structural and photoluminescent properties were analyzed. FT-IR characterization reveals the presence of peaks associated with Si-OH and Si-O-Si from the silica inorganic network and peaks for C=C and C=O from the organic network given by poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) and 3-trimethoxysilylpropyl methacrylate (TMSPM) coupling agent. Deconvolution analysis of the intrinsic luminescence of the hybrid matrix and the single embedded CD and RB hybrids was performed. The nanocomposite xerogels emission spectra show two emission peaks at 440 nm and 560 nm attributed to the CD and RB, respectively. The intensity of the emission bands is related to the variation in the CD/dye concentration ratio. Also, the estimated CIE 1931 chromaticity coordinates show that the global emission tonality of nanocomposites varies from blue to yellowish-orange. The CD/dye 2:2 volume ratio sample shows an emission tonality close to the white region (x = 0.35, y = 0.33). The low manufacturing cost of these nanocomposites and the incorporation of molecules with good luminescent intensity allow their potential application as coatings in solid-state lighting devices.

Graphical Abstract

Highlights

  • Obtention of a transparent organic-inorganic nanocomposite by sol-gel process.

  • Two emission peaks changing intensity with different CD/dye concentration ratio.

  • Chromaticity coordinates near the white region (x = 0.35, y = 0.33).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank CONACyT for its support through the project Cátedra-CONACyT 1959. Itzel Arizbe Olivares-Torres gratefully acknowledges the Department of Physics, the Postgraduate in Nanotechnology of the University of Sonora, and CONACyT for the doctorate scholarship. We thank Marwan Abduljawad for his help with UV-Vis spectroscopy characterization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Posgrado de Nanotecnología, Departamento de Física, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83000, México

    Itzel Arizbe Olivares-Torres & M. E. Álvarez-Ramos

  2. CONACyT-Universidad de Sonora, Departamento de Física, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83000, México

    J. Alvarado-Rivera

  3. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Roberto Guzmán-Zamudio

  4. Departamento de Física, Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, 83000, Mexico

    R. A. Iñiguez-Palomares

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  1. Itzel Arizbe Olivares-Torres
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Correspondence to Itzel Arizbe Olivares-Torres.

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Olivares-Torres, I.A., Alvarado-Rivera, J., Guzmán-Zamudio, R. et al. Adjustable emission of carbon dots and rhodamine B embedded in organic-inorganic hybrid gels for solid-state light devices. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 106, 186–198 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-023-06048-3

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