Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Nanofibers Formed by Bottom-Up Hierarchical Self-Assembly

Organic–inorganic hybrid materials have been extensively used in sensing, bioimaging, and optoelectronics. In particular, photosensitive organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with a high aspect ratio are widely used in flexible electronics and light-emitting displays due to their efficient charge transfer properties. Herein, we report the fabrication of organic–inorganic hybrid nanofibers with excellent charge transfer performance. The nanofibers consisting of perylene imide (denoted as PDI), polyoxometalate (POM, H3PW12O40), and surface-active ionic liquid (IL, [N-C12, N′-COOH-Im]­Br) are obtained through a bottom-up hierarchical self-assembly process. First, POM and IL are utilized to construct nanoparticles (POM-IL) via ionic self-assembly. Then, the PDI/POM-IL nanofibers are constructed by self-assembly of POM-IL complexes and PDI via a rapid solution dispersion method. The formation of PDI/POM-IL nanofibers is confirmed by multielemental energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) measurements. Notably, the results of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicate that the main structures of PDI/POM-IL nanofibers and PDI fibers are similar. In addition, photoluminescence quenching of the PDI/POM-IL nanofibers is observed, testifying a valid charge transfer between PDI and POM-IL complexes. It is confirmed by various characterization methods such as fluorescence, time-resolved photoluminescence, quantum yield, and photodegradation. The results indicate that the bottom-up hierarchical self-assembly is a valid method for fabricating organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with great potential in sensing, bioimaging, and optoelectronics.