Constructing honeycomb architectures from polymer carbon dot composites for luminous efficacy enhancement of LEDs

In this work, we report a facile construction of honeycomb-patterned membranes from polymer carbon dot (PCD) composites, which are demonstrated to effectively enhance the luminous efficacy of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). A series of PCD composites were successfully achieved by a pyrolysis process from poly(methyl methacrylate-co-dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride) copolymers, in which CDs were in situ formed and bonded with the polymer chains. Subsequently, ordered porous PCD membranes with a bifunctionality of fluorescence and hydrophobicity were generated via a “breath figure” method under humid conditions. Significantly, these honeycomb-like architectures could contribute to 41.9% improvement of the luminous efficacy for LEDs, showing great potentials for electrical, optoelectronic, and photovoltaic applications.