Aggregation-induced emission active chiral polymer dots (AIE@CPdots) are considered as a sort of high-performance emission layer (EML) of circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs) since they exhibit persistent emission stability, high photoluminescence quantum yields, excellent solution processability, facile functionalization, tunable bandgap-governed emission, and better device processability. So far, in this regard, such cases have rarely been reported. In this study, a pair of chiral conjugated polymer enantiomers (R/S-PFC) was synthesized by using three monomers of chiral binaphthalene moiety, fluorenyl linker, and AIE-active cyanostyrene dye under the Suzuki polymerization reaction. After annealing at 110 °C, the resulting R/S-PFC can self-assemble as chiral nanoparticle AIE@CPdots at the mixed solvent of chloroform and n-hexane mixed in a volume ratio of 9:1 and show the enhanced circularly polarized luminescence emission (luminescence dissymmetry factor (∣glum∣) = 4.4 × 10−3 at 462 nm). Interestingly, AIE@CPdots can serve as the EML of CP-OLEDs, achieving high-performance circularly polarized electroluminescence (electroluminescence dissymmetry factor (∣gEL∣) = 3.0 × 10−3 at 464 nm, maximum luminance (Lmax) = 6022 cd m−2, maximum current efficiency (CEmax) = 1.10 cd A−1). This research provides a new idea for designing excellent EML materials of CP-OLEDs promoted by chiral self-assembled AIE@CPdots.

High-performance circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs) that can simultaneously achieve narrowband emission and high electroluminescence asymmetry factor (g EL) values remain a formidable challenge. In this study, a simple strategy utilizing a co-assembled chiral exciplex as a host material was employed to fabricate high-performance CP-OLEDs. The exciplex was constructed from chiral acceptor enantiomers (R/S-TRZ) and an achiral liquid-crystalline donor (CzTPA). Upon thermal annealing, the resulting co-assembled films exhibited circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) with a luminescence asymmetry factor (g lum) up to 0.58. Introducing the achiral green multiple-resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) emitter to the exciplex host enabled high-performance circularly polarized electroluminescence (CP-EL). The resulting device exhibited a large g EL value of 0.28, a narrow full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 33 nm, and negligible efficiency roll-off. This work describes the first case of narrowband CP-OLEDs based on chiral co-assembled exciplex host materials, representing one of the highest g EL values of reported narrowband emission CP-OLEDs to date. It further establishes a general strategy for fabricating high-performance CP-OLEDs with readily available achiral emitters, thereby significantly broadening applications in chiral optoelectronics.

ABSTRACT Heteroatom‐doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with special topological structures have garnered significant attention owing to the effective regulation of photophysical properties of emitters at the molecular level. Herein, we report the design and one‐pot synthesis of two heteroatom‐doped PAHs, namely 4BN with a twisted helical configuration and 3BN with a quasi‐planar configuration. Systematic structure‐property investigations reveal that molecular topology plays a decisive role in governing intrinsic electronic structures and intermolecular interactions. The quadruple‐borylated 4BN with rigid PAH skeleton effectively suppresses structural relaxation and electron‐vibrational coupling via manipulating the non‐bonding characteristics, thereby affording ultra‐narrowband emission. Consequently, for 4BN, the full widths at half maximum (FWHMs) as narrow as 13 nm in toluene solution and 14 nm in solution‐processed electroluminescence device are achieved, representing the narrowest FWHM reported to date for OLEDs based on multiple resonance (MR) emitters. Furthermore, in TADF‐assisted solution‐processed device, the emission spectrum slightly broadens to 15 nm with a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE max ) of 18.9%. In sharp contrast, the triple‐borylated 3BN with quasi‐planar geometry shows enhanced π‐delocalization and stronger vibronic coupling, resulting in broader FWHM of 25 nm in TADF‐assisted solution‐processed devices with an EQE max of 19.8%.

The research on circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) has received significant attention due to its promising applications in advanced optical technologies. This review summarizes the latest advancements in the development of CPL-active materials across organic, hybrid, and inorganic systems. Particular emphasis is placed on material design strategies that simultaneously achieve high luminescence efficiency and large dissymmetry factors (glum) through chiral induction, molecular engineering, and supramolecular organization. The review further explores the cutting-edge applications of these CPL materials in optoelectronic devices, as well as emerging uses in information encryption, anti-counterfeiting, and chiral sensing. Finally, the review highlights current challenges and future prospects in the field, addressing fundamental limitations in material performance, device integration, and scalability. This review aims to provide valuable insights and inspire future research that will advance CPL technologies toward practical implementation in photonics and optoelectronics.

Open-shell organic radicals are known to promote triplet exciton transitions in organic dyes, enabling efficient room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP). However, their inherent instability and high reactivity impose severe constraints on practical applications. To address this bottleneck, we report a novel strategy for radical stabilization via dipole-dipole interactions. A host-guest system was engineered using triazine derivatives as the hosts and pyrene-functionalized binaphthyl derivatives as phosphorescent guests/ chiral inducers. The introduction of a cyanobiphenyl liquid crystalline moiety drives the system to coassemble into a long-range ordered superhelical architecture, which not only amplifies the chiral signal but also synergistically aligns microscopic dipoles into a macroscopically oriented strong dipole field, affording a stabilizing microenvironment for radicals photogenerated under UV excitation. The resulting system exhibits intense red circularly polarized roomrials, while providing new insights for addressing the dual challenges of radical stabilization and chiral signal transmission.

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) refers to the differential emission of left- and right-handed circularly polarized light in chiral materials, exhibiting significant potential for applications in bioimaging. The introduction of CPL can effectively eliminate the background autofluorescence interference, thereby enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio and resolution. Furthermore, CPL probes serve as robust detection tools capable of directly identifying the unique optical fingerprint information on the chiral targets, enabling real-time dynamic tracking of species within organisms, thus facilitating higher-dimensional bioimaging. Recently, a new series of CPL probes has been developed for cellular and in vivo imaging. This review summarizes the research progress of various CPL probes designed for efficient bioimaging, including CPL-active lanthanide metal complexes, small molecules, and nanomaterials. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and future prospects of these CPL probes in the field of bioimaging.

Micro-particles with an internal helical liquid crystalline (LC) molecular order serve as efficient and highly compact circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) emitters. However, the coupling between CPL emission and the interior LC molecular order remains poorly understood at the single particle level. Here, we synthesized microspheres from an LC monomer RM23 together with a fluorescent dye and a chiral additive (R/S-BPy) and investigated their CPL properties. Polarized optical microscopy and angle-dependent CPL observations at a single-particle level revealed randomly distributed one-handed helical domains in each sphere, leading to CPL emission with an average dissymmetry factor value |g lum| of 0.05 regardless the observation angle. The color of the CPL emission is tunable in the range of 450-700 nm by varying the fluorescent dyes doped in the spheres.

Achieving polarization controllable multicolor CPL remains a significant challenge. In this study, we presented a method for fabricating dual CPL materials with controllable polarizations by doping achiral dyes with distinguishable emission wavelengths and different linear dichroism properties into cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs). R/S-CLC-1 doped with green-emitting dye PTZ (positive dichroism, S F = 0.33) and red-emitting dye NP (negative dichroism, S F = -0.09) can emit green and red CPL with opposite polarizations (g lum = +0.54/-0.52 at 550 nm and -0.35/+0.36 at 645 nm) simultaneously. Conversely, R/S-CLC-2 doped with PTZ and another red-emitting dye PP (positive dichroism, S F = +0.58) can emit green and red CPL in the same polarization (g lum = +0.48/-0.43 at 550 nm and +0.68/-0.68 at 645 nm). This approach enables enhanced information encryption capacity and anticounterfeiting by allowing a single CLC pixel to simultaneously store data from two channels.

Circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs) exhibiting circularly polarized electroluminescence (CP-EL) properties hold significant promise for future display technologies. However, enhancing the electroluminescence dissymmetry factor (g EL) remains a substantial challenge. Herein, ultrastrong CP-EL emissions are achieved using a liquid crystal (LC)-functionalization strategy under the regulation of chiral co-assembly. The LC molecule 3CzPCH containing carbazole and mesogenic units could be readily synthesized using Suzuki coupling reactions. When doping chiral inducers R/S-D into 3CzPCH, the chiral co-assemblies formed helical nanofibers upon 120 °C annealing treatment and emitted strong deep-blue circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) with |g lum| of 0.13 (λ em = 422 nm, Φ FL = 34%). Most importantly, these chiral co-assemblies served as the emitting layers (EMLs) of CP-OLEDs, reaching an ultrastrong deep-blue CP-EL with a |g EL| value up to 0.47 (λ EL = 440 nm). The corresponding Q-factor (EQE × |g EL|) of 1.12 × 10-2 represents one of the highest values reported for CP-OLEDs. This study demonstrates that the LC-functionalization strategy effectively enables intense CP-EL, paving the way for high-performance CP-OLEDs.

Excitation-dependent (ExD) circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) holds great potential for applications in anti-counterfeiting and information encryption due to its low cost, ease of operation, and reversibility. In this study, we propose a strategy to obtain ExD CPL by selective excitation of dyes with distinct dichroism and excitation wavelengths in a chiral liquid crystal (CLC) host. R/S-CLC-PG doped with the green-emitting dye EG (negative dichroism, S F = -0.31) and red-emitting PTZ (positive dichroism, S F = 0.15) can emit green CPL (-0.48/0.37 at 530 nm) at 365 nm excitation and inverted red CPL (0.53/-0.53 at 620 nm) at 420 nm excitation. In addition, R/S-CLC-PR doped with PTZ and red-emitting dye ER (negative dichroism, S F = -0.30) can emit red CPL (-0.16/0.13 at 620 nm) at 365 nm excitation and inverted red CPL (0.52/-0.55 at 620 nm) at 420 nm excitation. This work presents a versatile platform for developing ExD CPL materials with potential applications in anti-counterfeiting devices.

Very recently, considerable attention has been given to pure organic circularly polarized room‐temperature phosphorescent (CP‐RTP) materials due to their unique photophysical properties. However, the directed construction of optically active phosphorescent signals within achiral systems remains a formidable challenge. In this study, two achiral crystals, 2CN4S and 2F4S , belonging to the achiral point groups 2/ m and , exhibit strong CP‐RTP emission with high photoluminescence dissymmetry factors ( g lum ) up to 5.5 × 10 −2 (543 nm) and 4.3 × 10 −2 (550 nm), respectively. This phenomenon is attributed to the intrinsic mirror‐antiparallel molecular conformations induced by the targeted substitution of cyano/fluoro groups, which spontaneously assemble into symmetry‐breaking helical superstructures through synergistic C─H···N hydrogen bonding and π – π interactions. This work not only establishes a novel approach for CP‐RTP material design but also overcomes structural constraints in optically active materials within achiral point group systems.

Circularly polarized room-temperature phosphorescent (CP-RTP) materials have been attracting great attention due to their potential applications in anticounterfeiting. In this study, we designed and synthesized a host-guest copolymer (PBXT) with strong phosphorescence emission and a long emission lifetime using a self-doping strategy. The co-assembled liquid crystal polymer networks (LCPNs)x-(RI/SI)y doped with PBXT demonstrated a stronger RTP emission and longer lifetime (τ = 148 ms). Among them, (LCPNs)0.91-(RI)0.09 showed strong CP-RTP signals (|gRTP| = 0.071) through chiral supramolecular co-assembly. By dropping Nile Red (NR) into (LCPNs)0.91-(RI/SI)0.09, the resulting [(LCPNs)0.91-(RI/SI)0.09]0.9925-(NR)0.0075 emitted intense red circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) of NR dye (λem = 636 nm and |gem| = 0.073) with a long lifetime (τ = 26 ms) under the regulation of an intermolecular phosphorescence resonance energy transfer (PRET) mechanism. Additionally, [(LCPNs)x-(RI/SI)y]m-(NR)n has been explored for applications in time-varying information encryption and quadruplex anticounterfeiting information encryption through the PRET progress.

Circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs) show great promise for next-generation display technologies. However, achieving high dissymmetry factors (| g EL |) in circularly polarized electroluminescence (CP-EL) remains a significant challenge. In this study, we construct a novel chiral co-assembled cholesteric liquid crystal polymer network ( ChLC-PN ) as an emitting layer (EML) to enhance CP-EL via a facile in situ photopolymerization strategy. The ChLC-PN was fabricated by UV-induced polymerization (365 nm, 200 mW cm − 2 , 2 min, N₂ atmosphere) of a chiral co-assembly system comprising liquid crystal monomer ( LCM ) and chiral inducers ( R / S -Cz ). Notably, the resulting ( R / S -Cz) 0.01 -(LCP) 0.99 based devices demonstrate sky-blue CP-EL with a maximum | g EL | value of 0.012. This work presents the first report of high-performance CP-OLEDs utilizing a chiral co-assembled cholesteric liquid crystal rigid polymer network, offering a promising platform for simple, stable, and scalable fabrication of future CP-OLED devices.

Circularly polarized ultraviolet light (CP-UVL) offers significant potential for practical applications in asymmetric photocatalysis and photopolymerization. However, the development of CP-UVL-active materials has been hindered by their low emission dissymmetry factors ( g em ). Here, we present a high-performance CP-UVL material for asymmetric photopolymerization, achieved through thermodynamic regulation of a chiral supramolecular assembly. The chiral coassembled enantiomers, R / S -BNC/OXD-7 , are synthesized using the naphthylamine derivative R / S -BNC as the chiral donor and OXD-7 as the achiral acceptor. Upon annealing at different temperatures, OXD-7 detaches from the chiral coassembly of S -BNC/OXD-7 and then self-assembles into ordered helical nanostructures, exhibiting temperature-dependent CP-UVL ( λ em = 360 nm, with g em up to +0.188). Remarkably, the strong CP-UVL emission acts as a chiral excitation source, triggering the asymmetric photopolymerization of RM257 (which contains the achiral dye TPABBI and the photoinitiator Irg651 ), resulting in the generation of blue CPL ( λ em  = 460 nm, g em  = −0.072). This study provides a simple yet effective strategy for designing high-performance CP-UVL materials for CPL-induced asymmetric photopolymerization.

Circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes (CP-OLEDs) are essential to prospective 3D displays and advanced polarized lighting systems. The rational design of programmable circularly polarized electroluminescence (CP-EL) materials with a large electroluminescence dissymmetry factor ( g EL ) remains a great challenge and is still in its preliminary exploration phase. In this work, two aggregation induced emission active (AIE-active) chiral inducers with different dihedral angles of binaphthalene ( S -/ R -1 and S -/ R -2) and achiral acrylate-based liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) (PyP) were chosed to construct chiral co-assemblies through an intermolecular chirality induction mechanism. Interestingly, as the dihedral angle of the AIE-active binaphthyl inducer decreased from obtuse to acute angle, the resulting co-assemblies ( S -/ R -2-PyP) could emit inverted and amplified CP-EL signals compared with S -/ R -1-PyP after annealing. Significantly, the ( S -/ R -2) 0.1 -(PyP) 0.9 -based CP-OLEDs displayed remarkable blue CP-EL ( λ EL  = 480 nm, L max  = 14860 cd m −2 ) with a record | g EL | value of up to 0.18 in chiral co-assembled CP-OLEDs to date. This work describes the first observation of dynamic CP-EL with tunable signal direction and intensity through stereocontrol of AIE-active chiral inducers in LCP co-assembled films, providing a valuable guidance for realizing programmable CP-EL.

Chalcogen-containing carbonyls, specifically thioxanthone (TX), hold great potential in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). While the development of narrowband OLEDs with chalcogen-containing carbonyls remains challenging due to difficulties in achieving both high device efficiency and narrow emission spectra. Herein, via a strategic incorporation of the TX moiety, two orange-red narrowband emitters, 2TXBN and BNTXBN, are designed and synthesized for the first time. Both 2TXBN and BNTXBN exhibit bright orange-red emissions with peaks at 582 and 585 nm, respectively, along with narrow full widths at half maxima of 30 and 32 nm. Notably, 2TXBN demonstrates delocalization of the nonbonding orbital within the TX segment, which raises the first triplet energy level and reduces the singlet-triplet energy gap. This electronic structural adjustment effectively shortens the delayed fluorescence lifetime, leading to enhanced device performance. Accordingly, OLED employing 2TXBN as the emitter achieves remarkable performance, with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 31.0 %, a current efficiency of 69.0 cd A −1 , and a power efficiency of 76.0 lm W −1 , highlighting the efficacy of the nonbonding orbital delocalization strategy in achieving bathochromic-shifted narrowband OLED materials.

Developing stimuli-responsive circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials that feature fast emission color switching for advanced information encryption presents a scientifically significant yet formidable challenge. Herein, we construct a supramolecular co-assembly system demonstrating transiently responsive CPL emission color switching, enabling mechanically-modulated information encryption. Combining a highly luminescent Pt(II) liquid crystal (Pt8) with the anchored binaphthyl inducers (R/S-M) forms chiral co-assemblies (R/S-M)0.03-(Pt8)0.97, which assemble into twisted nanobelts (180 °C) and helical nanofibers (260 °C) exhibiting green (λ em = 545 nm, g em = 0.038) and red CPL (λ em = 640 nm, g em = 0.133), respectively. Notably, mechanical grinding transforms the 180 °C-annealed (R/S-M)0.03-(Pt8)0.97 into nanoparticles, resulting in a fast dynamic switching of CPL emission color from green to orange-red (λ em: 545 → 625 nm, g em: 0.038 → 0.058). Reheating the grinding films (R/S-M)0.03-(Pt8)0.97 to 180 °C restores the initial green CPL of the nanobelts. Based on the fast CPL emission color switching, we demonstrate the applications of these supramolecular chiral co-assemblies for mechanically-modulated information encryption.

Achieving high circularly polarized electroluminescence (CP-EL) performance in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) remains a significant challenge. In this study, chiral nematic liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) are co-assembled as chiral fluorescent materials by doping 1 wt% chiral binaphthyl-based R/S-D inducers into a LCP (P-PyP), displaying blue circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) signals (|glum| = 0.025, lambda em = 470 nm, Phi FL = 37%) after thermal annealing at 140 degrees C. Notably, the resulting chiral LCP films can serve as the emitting layer (EML) in non-doped OLEDs, and exhibit good CP-EL emissions (gEL = -0.019/+0.015, lambda EL = 484 nm). This work demonstrates a pathway for the high CP-EL performance materials through the chiral co-assembly of LCPs.

Negative dichroic dyes are crucial for enhancing the brightness of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and modulating circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) in cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) through supramolecular co-assembly. However, the majority of fluorescent molecules exhibit positive dichroism, and there is a limited understanding of designing negative dichroic molecules. In this paper, a novel design principle is proposed to construct the negative dichroic polymer by introducing through space charge transfer (TSCT) side chain structure to the polymer backbone. Specifically, two conjugated polymers (P1, P2) are synthesized using the Suzuki coupling reaction of two donor-acceptor (D-A) type monomers (V-type M1 and I-type M2) with fluorenyl monomer. P1 exhibits negative dichroism, and its orientational order parameter (SF) is up to SFP1 = -0.18. On the contrary, P2 is positive dichroism (SFP2 = + 0.27). This variation arises from the differing orientations of the rigidly functional side chains (SFM1 = + 0.07; SFM2 = + 0.31), which affect the alignment (parallel or perpendicular) of the polymer backbone toward CLCs molecules. This phenomenon facilitates controllable dichroism and precisely modulates the handedness of CPL signals, thereby facilitating the successful implementation of multidimensional information encryption systems in CLCs.