Decaborane Clusters: A New Class of Organic‐Inorganic TADF Materials for X‐Ray Scintillation and Electroluminescence
ABSTRACT Polyhedral boron clusters possess unique properties, yet their luminescence applications have largely been confined to carborane derivatives. Here, we introduce decaborane clusters [B 10 H 12 L 2 ] (L = pyridine‐like ligands) as an innovative class of organic‐inorganic TADF materials. These clusters exhibit exceptional air and moisture stability, and are readily accessible. A series of fourteen emitters, displaying tunable green‐to‐orange TADF with the quantum efficiency of up to 99%, was synthesized. Detailed photophysical studies reveal that these clusters adopt a flexible A–D–A architecture [L–B 10 H 12 –L] with a pronounced charge‐transfer character and ultranarrow singlet‐triplet energy splittings (as small as 29 cm −1 , ≈0.0036 eV). Beyond TADF properties, these heavy‐atom‐free emitters demonstrate pronounced X‐ray scintillation (detection limit: 67 µGy air s −1 ) and strong aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) behavior. Their utility is further evidenced by electroluminescence in proof‐of‐concept OLEDs, including a white‐emitting device. This work establishes decaborane clusters as a versatile and readily accessible platform for next‐generation TADF materials, expanding the frontiers of p‐block cluster chemistry.
Authors
- Anton V. Kuzmin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8114-6479)
- Dmitriy Polovyanenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3835-825X)
- Hong Meng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5877-359X)
- Maria P. Davydova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6418-9477)
- Taisiya S. Sukhikh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5269-9130)
- Evgeny A. Mostovich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0402-1138)
- Zhenglin Jia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8579-7076)
- Haoyu Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9227-1120)
- Alexander V. Artem’ev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1389-7078)
- Lingqiang Meng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4571-394X)
- Qianqian Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6144-1761)
- Anastasiya A. Globa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1766-173X)
- М. И. Рахманова
- Konstantin Yu Zhizhin
- Konstantin A. Brylev
Institutions
- Henan University (CN)
- Novosibirsk State University (RU)
- Wuhan University of Technology (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry (RU)
- A.E. Favorsky Irkutsk Institute of Chemistry (RU)
- NS Kurnakova Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry (RU)
- Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RU)
- Peking University Shenzhen Hospital (CN)
- Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry (RU)
- Institute of Physiologically Active Compounds (RU)
- Hubei University of Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Small
- Published
- 2026-09-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.75612
- Primary Topic
- Boron Compounds in Chemistry
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China