First joint publication from our JST ASPIRE grant!

We’re pleased to announce our latest publication in Chemistry Letters, a collaboration with Professor Youhei Takeda’s group at the University of Osaka. Cyclic dibenzophenazine (DBPHZ) systems show promise for organic optoelectronics, but poor solubility has severely limited their study. The Osaka team developed an elegant solution—incorporating bulky siloxy groups into the molecular design to dramatically enhance solubility while maintaining desirable electronic properties. Our contribution focused on comprehensive photophysical characterisation. We investigated emission properties in solution and thin films, revealing fascinating excimer-like behaviour: the material shifts from blue-green emission in dilute solution to orange in concentrated films. This concentration-dependent tunability opens interesting possibilities for materials applications. This work exemplifies the strength of UK-Japan partnerships through the JST ASPIRE programme, combining synthetic expertise from Osaka with our photophysical capabilities at Northumbria.

Read the Paper

Namba, N., Ogura, F., Etherington, M.K., Minakata, S., Takeda, Y. Chemistry Letters, 54, 12, 2025 DOI: 10.1093/chemle/upaf216 (Open Access)