Delayed Fluorescence from Carbon Nanotubes through Singlet Oxygen-Sensitized Triplet Excitons.

Single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in liquid suspension have been observed to emit delayed, microsecond-scale fluorescence arising from upconverted triplet excitons that are directly created through energy transfer from singlet oxygen molecules (1O2). The singlet oxygen is produced through quenching of an optically excited organic sensitizer. The mechanism of this delayed fluorescence has been deduced from measurements of time-resolved emission kinetics, delayed emission spectra, and polarization-resolved excitation-emission spectra. The observed strong dependence of 1O2 sensitization efficiency on SWCNT structure suggests that (7,6) triplet excitons have an energy near 970 meV. The yields for E11T → E11S upconversion are found to be in the range of several percent. These yields increase with increasing temperature and decrease with increasing excitation intensities, reflecting thermal activation and triplet-triplet exciton annihilation processes.