High photoluminescence and photoswitch of bis(8-hydroxyquinoline) zinc nanoribbons

Highly luminescent bis(8-hydroxyquinoline) zinc nanoribbons with average width of 150 nm and thickness of 50 nm and length up to several hundreds of micrometers have been synthesized via a facile solvothermal method. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectrum of the products showed a strong and stable emission centered at 515 nm under excitation at 386 nm. The nanoribbons were found to be sensitive to light. The photocurrent enhanced by ca. 24 times under irradiation of an incandescence lamp with power density of 2.5 mW/cm2. This conclusion was interesting and might found potential application in light-controlled devices in the future.