Photon upconverting bioplastics with high efficiency and in-air durability
Journal article, 2021

There is an urgent demand for substituting synthetic plastics to bioplastics for sustainable renewable energy production. Here, we report a simple one-step approach to create bioplastics with efficient and durable photon upconversion (UC) by encapsulating non-volatile chromophore solutions into collagen-based protein films. By just drying an aqueous solution of gelatin, surfactant, and UC chromophores (sensitizer and annihilator), liquid surfactant microdroplets containing the UC chromophores are spontaneously confined within the gelatin films. Thanks to the high fluidity of microdroplets and the good oxygen barrier ability of the collagen-based fiber matrices, a high absolute TTA-UC efficiency of 15.6% and low threshold excitation intensity of 14.0 mW cm−2are obtained even in air. The TTA-UC efficiency was retained up to 8.2% after 2 years of storage under ambient conditions, hence displaying the significant durability desired for practical applications.

Author

Pankaj Bharmoria

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Kyushu University

Shota Hisamitsu

Kyushu University

Yoichi Sasaki

Kyushu University

Tejwant Singh Kang

Guru Nanak Dev University India

Kyushu University

Masa Aki Morikawa

Kyushu University

Biplab Joarder

Kyushu University

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

Kasper Moth-Poulsen

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Hakan Bildirir

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Anders Mårtensson

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Nobuhiro Yanai

Kyushu University

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Nobuo Kimizuka

Kyushu University

Journal of Materials Chemistry C

20507534 (ISSN) 20507526 (eISSN)

Vol. 9 35 11655-11661

Subject Categories

Physical Chemistry

DOI

10.1039/d1tc00287b

More information

Latest update

10/13/2021