Intrinsically Luminescent Nematic Liquid Crystals Enabling High-Brightness Full-Color and White Circularly Polarized Luminescence via Chiral Co-Assembly

Abstract

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials with simultaneous high dissymmetry factor (glum) and brightness are pivotal for advanced photonic applications but remain challenging due to inherent trade-offs betwwen glum value and photoluminescenc quantum yield (PLQY). Here, we report a supramolecular engineering strategy to construct intrinsically luminescent chiral nematic liquid crystal (N*-LC) films via co-assembly of luminescent liquid crystals (LLCs) and chiral dopant. Firstly, five intrinsic LLCs molecules (2PFQ, 2PFBQ, 2PFB, 2PFSe, 2PFS) were synthesized by combining the biphenyl framework with dioctyl-functionalized fluorene, achieving exceptional nematic phases and high brightness with PLQY up to 99%. Then, Chiral co-assembly of the obtained LLCs with chiral dopants (P/M-THH) followed by rapid thermal quenching yielded Bragg reflection-free N*-LC films exhibiting high-brightness CPL with recorded glum values (up to 0.75) and PLQY (up to 71%). Full-color tunability and white CPL (CIE: 0.33, 0.33) were realized through precise compositional control. The simultaneous optimization of glum and PLQY enables high-brightness CPL with advanced anti-counterfeiting capabilities, opening new avenues for developing high-brighness CPL materials for polarized photonic and optoelectronic applications.