Synthesis, characterization, photophysical and oxygen-sensing properties of a copper(I) complex

Abstract

In this paper, we report the synthesis, crystal structure, photophysical properties, and electronic nature of a phosphorescent Cu(I) complex of [Cu(TBT)(POP)]BF4, where TBT and POP stand for 4,5,9,14-tetraaza-benzo[b]triphenylene and bis(2-(diphenylphosphanyl)phenyl) ether, respectively. [Cu(TBT)(POP)]BF4 renders a red phosphorescence peaking at 622 nm, with a long excited-state lifetime of 13.2 μs. Density functional calculation reveals that the emission comes from a triplet metal-to-ligand-charge-transfer excited state. We electrospun composite nanofibers of [Cu(TBT)(POP)]BF4 and polystyrene, hoping to explore the possibility of replacing precious-metal-based oxygen sensors with cheap Cu-based ones. The finally obtained samples with average diameter of ~700 nm exhibit a maximum sensitivity of 5.8 toward molecular oxygen with short response/recovery time (5/13 s) due to the large surface-area-to-volume ratio of nanofibrous membranes. No photobleaching is detected in these samples. All these results suggest that phosphorescent Cu(I) complexes doped nanofibrous membranes are promising candidates for low-cost and quick-response oxygen-sensing materials.