Room-temperature phosphorescent transparent wood

Transparent wood with high transmittance and versatility has attracted great attention as an energy-saving building material. Many studies have focused on luminescent transparent wood, while the research on organic afterglow transparent wood is an interesting combination. Here, we use luminescent difluoroboron β-diketonate (BF2bdk) compounds, methyl methacrylate (MMA), delignified wood, and initiators to prepare room-temperature phosphorescent transparent wood by thermal initiation polymerization. The resultant PMMA has been found to interact with BF2bdk via dipole-dipole interactions and consequently enhance the intersystem crossing of BF2bdk excited states. The transparent wood matrix can provide a rigid environment for BF2bdk triplets and serve as oxygen barrier to suppress non-radiative decay and oxygen quenching. The prepared afterglow material has the characteristics of diverse composition, long afterglow emission lifetimes, and high photoluminescence quantum yield. This afterglow transparent wood also demonstrates potential application value in areas such as high mechanical strength, good hydrophobicity, and high cost-effectiveness. Transparent wood has potential in building applications, and there is interest in this having additional functionality. Here, the authors report the development of transparent wood with room temperature phosphorescence.