Flexible inorganic CsPbI3 perovskite nanocrystal-PMMA composite films with enhanced stability in air and water for white light-emitting diodes

Perovskite nanocrystals are a new type of fluorescent material with the advantages of facile preparation process, bright tunable color with high quantum yield. They are ideal candidates for optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diode (LED) and display. However, for practical applications of iodine-based perovskite nanocrystals, the photostability remains a great challenge because of their sensitivity to environmental factors such as oxygen, humidity etc. In this paper, we improve the photostability of CsPbI3 by introducing the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as a matrix to form flexible perovskite/PMMA composite films. The composite films maintain good photoluminescence quantum yield for 25 d in air and 4 d in water. Furthermore, these films are flexible and can sustain multiple bending and folding while maintaining their photoluminescence properties. This photostability against mechanical deformation allows for the development of flexible devices. As an example, flexible white light-emitting diodes (WLED) were produced with chromaticity coordination (0.31, 0.32), color temperature 6735 K and good stability over time.