Scientists in China have discovered a unique way to produce white light from organic polymers. The polymers could eventually be used in colour displays and other electrical devices, they say. 

Juan Peng and colleagues at Fudan University, Shanghai, made diblock copolymer micelles with green and red light emitting dyes in the middle, and blue light emitting polymers around the outside. The dyes emit simultaneously, blending the colours to produce white light. 

Creating white light emitting materials from organic complexes has been a significant challenge for materials chemists. Various methods have been attempted but none have the simplicity of this route, says Peng. The micelles are the crucial part, he explains, as they isolate the light-emitting dyes from each other. This stops energy transfer between them and allows them to emit simultaneously. 

'This is a pretty clever piece of work and a very nice way of producing white light,' comments Fred Wudl, an expert in organic light emitting polymers, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, US. He suggests that the materials have great potential but that they are not yet efficient enough for use in colour displays and other light sources. 

The teams are hoping to extend their work to make the micelles into electrical devices. 'The most important commercial application in this field is the fabrication of white light-emitting diodes. Only after we solve the efficiency problem, can we talk about actual devices. But I believe that in the near future, it will be possible,' concludes Peng. 

Holly Sheahan 

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