Photon upconversion through the process of triplet fusion have the potential to surpass existing boundaries in areas such as photovoltaics, photocatalysis, sensing, and optogenetics, by upconverting low energy light into photons higher in energy. Quantum confined semiconductor nanocrystals have been successfully used to sensitize this process, due to their vast tunability and ability to directly sensitize triplet states of organic molecules. Until recently, only quantum dots, which feature quantum confinement in all three dimensions, have been utilized for this purpose. We have pioneered the approach of utilizing one and two-dimensional triplet sensitizers, namely CdTe nanorods and CdSe nanoplatelets for red-to-blue and green-to-blue upconversion respectively. While these morphologies have brought on new challenges, they feature respectable upconversion efficiencies and low power thresholds, where further optimization could result in efficient upconversion devices that leverage the unique properties of anisotropic triplet sensitizers.

Dimensionality tuning of triplet sensitizers for triplet fusion upconversion

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.