Photoluminescence Enhancement of 0D Organic-Inorganic Metal Halides via Aggregation-Induced Emission and Halide Substitution

0D organic-inorganic metal halides (OIMHs) provide unprecedented versatility in structures and photoluminescence properties. Here, a series of bluish-white emissive 0D OIMHs, (TPE-TPP)₂Sb₂Br_xCl_8-x (x = 1.16 to 8), are prepared by assembling the 1-triphenylphosphonium-4-(1,2,2-triphenylethenyl)benzene cation (TPE-TPP)⁺ with antimony halides anions. Based on experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations, the emission of the 0D OIMHs are attributed to the fluorescence of the organic cations with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties. The 0D structure minimized the molecular motion and intermolecular interactions between (TPE-TPP)⁺ cations, effectively suppressing the non-radiative recombination processes. Consequently, the photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) of (TPE-TPP)₂Sb₂Br_1.16Cl_6.84 is significantly enhanced to 55.4% as compared to the organic salt (TPE-TPP)Br (20.5%). The PLQE of (TPE-TPP)₂Sb₂Br_xCl_8-x can also be readily manipulated by halide substitution, due to the competitive processes between non-radiative recombination on the inorganic moiety and the energy transfer from inorganic to organic. In addition, electrically driven light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are fabricated based on (TPE-TPP)₂Sb₂Br_1.16Cl_6.84 emitter, which exhibited bluish-white emission with a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 1.1% and luminance of 335 cd m^-2. This is the first report of electrically driven LED based on 0D OIMH with bluish-white emission.