Ultrastable, cationic three-dimensional lead bromide frameworks that intrinsically emit broadband white-light

Abstract

Herein, we report the unusual broadband white-light emission as an intrinsic property from two cationic lead bromide frameworks. This is the first time that the metal halide materials adopting a purely inorganic positively-charged three-dimensional (3D) topology have been synthesized, thus affording highly distorted Pb^II centers. The single-component white-light emitters achieve an external quantum efficiency of up to 5.6% and a correlated color temperature of 5727 K, producing typical white-light close to that of fluorescent light sources. Unlike the air/moisture-sensitive 3D organolead halide perovskites, our cationic materials are chemically “inert” over a wide range of pH as well as aqueous boiling condition. Importantly, these long-sought ultrastable lead halide materials exhibit undiminished photoluminescence upon continuous UV-irradiation for 30 days under atmospheric condition (∼60% relative humidity, 1 bar). Our mechanistic studies indicate the broadband emission have contributions from the self-trapped excited states through electron-vibrational coupling in the highly deformable and anharmonic lattice, as demonstrated by variable-temperature photoluminescence/absorption spectra as well as X-ray crystallography studies. The chemical robustness and structural tunability of the 3D cationic bromoplumbates open new paths for the rational design of hybrid bulk emitters with high photostability.