Self-healing photoluminescent polymers with photosensitive behavior for information storage and multiple-level dynamic encryption

Abstract

Photo-responsive luminescent materials capable of responding to light stimuli are crucial in the realm of sophisticated encryption, anti-counterfeiting, and optical data storage. Yet, the development of such materials that also feature self-healing capabilities, swift reaction times, light weight, fatigue resistance, dynamic display abilities, and enhanced security measures is exceedingly rare and presents considerable challenges. Herein, a novel family of self-healing and photo-stimuli-responsive photoluminescent polymers are reported, which is achieved by interlinking terpyridine- and spiropyran-functionalized polymers through N–Ln coordination bonds and hydrogen bonding among the polymer chains. The resulting polymers exhibit good processability, superior tensile strength, fast self-healing ability, and photo-stimuli-responsive performance. The photo-stimuli-responsive properties include unique color shifts (colorless and purple) and light-controlled time-dependent fluorescence modulation (green-, red-, and yellow-emission), which stem from fine-tuning the isomerization of spiropyran and leveraging the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from Ln–Tpy donors to spiropyran acceptors, respectively. Besides, these polymers have been successfully applied in dynamic multi-level information encryption applications. We are convinced that these smart materials, crafted through our innovative approach, hold vast potential for applications in information storage, cutting-edge anti-counterfeiting encryption, UV-sensing, and light-writing technologies, marking a novel strategy in the design of photosensitive luminescent smart materials.