Thermally Stable Self-Trapped Assisted Single-Component White Light from Lead-Free Zero-Dimensional Metal Halide Nanocrystals

Abstract

White-light-emitting single-component materials are in high demand for lighting applications. However, achieving white light in single-doped metal halide materials remains a challenge. Herein, for the first time, zero-dimensional Cs3ScCl6:Sb3+(CSC:Sb3+) nanocrystals (NCs) are reported that exhibit bright white-light emission, which is a result of combination of the excessive blue and yellow emissions of carbon dots and spin-forbidden electronic transitions of Sb3+ ions. CSC:Sb3+ NCs exhibit a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 48%. Furthermore, they retain 75% of their original photoluminescence efficiency at 100 °C. This high thermal stability is mainly attributed to its lower dimensionality and high exciton binding energy as they facilitate the creation of stable white light at elevated temperatures. A single-component white-light-emitting diode fabricated using CSC:Sb3+ NCs exhibits a high-color rendering index and luminous efficacy values of 90 and 23 lm W−1 at a high flux current of 200 mA. Therefore, the findings may pave the way for developing the next generation of white-light-emitting devices using a single component of white-light-emitting material.