Achieving cuprous iodide hybrid materials with long luminescence lifetimes and high internal quantum yields via aggregation-induced emission†

Herein, four new cuprous iodide hybrid materials 1–4 were synthesized at room temperature using two types of ligands: imidazoles and triphenylphosphine. Photoluminescence results showed that all the materials exhibited blue emissions with high internal quantum yields (IQYs) ranging from 51% to 64%. Surprisingly, the introduction of triphenylphosphine induced strong aggregation-induced emission (AIE). Additionally, the luminescence lifetimes of these materials were significantly longer, ranging from 11.53 μs to 24.33 μs, which is much longer than those of previous materials. These findings suggest that these materials could be potential candidates for non-rare earth element (REE) lighting phosphors.