Electrospun Light-Emitting Nanofibers

We have electrospun light-emitting nanofibers from ruthenium(II) tris(bipyridine)/polyethylene oxide mixtures. The electroluminescent fibers were deposited on gold interdigitated electrodes and lit in a nitrogen atmosphere. The fibers showed light emission at low operating voltages (3-4 V), with turn-on voltages approaching the band gap limit of the organic semiconductor. Because of the fiber size, emission from electrospun light-emitting nanofibers is confined to nanoscale dimensions, an attractive feature for sensing applications and lab-on-a-chip integration where highly localized excitation of molecules is required.