Versatile surface plasmon resonance of carbon-dot-supported silver nanoparticles in polymer optoelectronic devices

The coupling of surface plasmons and excitons in organic materials can improve the performance of organic optoelectronic devices. Here, we prepare carbon-dot-supported silver nanoparticles (CD–Ag nanoparticles) using the carbon dots both as a reducing agent and a template to fabricate solution-processable polymer light-emitting diodes and polymer solar cells. The surface plasmon resonance effect of CD–Ag nanoparticles allows significant radiative emission and additional light absorption, leading to remarkably enhanced current efficiency of 27.16 cd A−1 and a luminous efficiency of 18.54 lm W−1 in polymer light-emitting diodes as well as a power conversion efficiency of 8.31% and an internal quantum efficiency of 99% in polymer solar cells compared with control devices (current efficiency = 11.65 cd A−1 and luminous efficiency = 6.33 lm W−1 in polymer light-emitting diodes; power conversion efficiency = 7.53% and internal quantum efficiency = 91% in polymer solar cells). These results demonstrate that CD–Ag nanoparticles constitute a versatile and effective route for achieving high-performance polymer optoelectronic devices. The coupling of surface plasmons and excitons in organic materials can improve the performance of organic optoelectronic devices. Carbon-dot-supported silver nanoparticles have now been used to improve the efficiency of polymer light-emitting diodes and polymer solar cells.