Triplet Energy Transfer Mechanism of Ternary Organic Hybrid Thin Films of PFO/MEH-PPV/CsPbBr₃ Perovskite Quantum Dots

The triplet energy transfer mechanism of novel poly(9,9-di-n-octylflourenyl-2,7-diyl) (PFO)/poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV)/CsPbBr₃ perovskite quantum dot (PQD) hybrid thin films was comprehensively investigated. The concentrations of PFO and MEH-PPV in all the specimens were fixed, while the PQD content was varied with various weight ratios and premixed by a solution blending method before it was spin-coated onto glass substrates. The triplet non-radiative Förster resonance energy transfers (FRETs) in the PFO/MEH-PPV/PQDs ternary blend, the dual FRET from PFO to both PQDs and MEH-PPV, and the secondary FRET from PQDs to MEH-PPV were observed. The values of the Förster radius (R_o) of FRET from PFO to MEH-PPV in the presence of various PQD contents (Case I) increased from 92.3 to 104.7 Å, and they decreased gradually from 68.0 to 39.5 Å for FRET from PFO to PQDs in the presence of MEH-PPV (Case II). These R_o values in both cases confirmed the dominance of FRET in ternary hybrid thin films. Upon increasing the PQD content, the distance between the donor and acceptor molecules (R_DA) and the conjugation length (A_π) in both cases gradually decreased. The small values of R_o, R_DA, and A_π with a decrease in the energy transfer lifetime (τ_ET) due to an increase in the PQD contents in both Cases I and II confirmed the efficient FRET in the hybrid. To prevent intermolecular transfer in PFO, the concentrations of MEH-PPV (Case I) and PQDs (Case II) should be decreased to a range of 0.57-0.39 mM and increased in the range of 1.42-7.25 mM.