The Polymer Society of Korea

엄태식 (단국대학교)

박민수 (단국대학교)

Long-lived room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) has attracted interest for optoelectronic, bioimaging, and data security applications due to its time-dependent emission. Conventional high-efficiency RTP materials typically rely on heavy-metal or rare-earth dopants, which suffer from high cost, environmental concerns, and poor processability. Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) provide a low-cost and environmentally benign alternative. Here, we investigate RTP from GQDs embedded in a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix as a heavy metal-free system. Hydrogen bonding between PVA and GQDs stabilizes triplet states, enabling long-lived RTP. The highest RTP intensity is achieved using 2 nm GQDs at a 5 wt% loading in PVA, and addition of boric acid further enhances RTP by strengthening GQD–PVA interactions. This work establishes an environmentally benign RTP platform based on GQDs, offering a sustainable approach for next-generation optoelectronic applications.