Photoresponsive lanthanide luminescent materials

Lanthanide luminescent materials have attracted great attention in the last few decades due to their intriguing optical properties, such as large Stokes shift, long excited state lifetimes, high quantum efficiencies, abundant emission spectra, and high color purity. Stimuli-responsive materials are smart materials that can sense and respond to surrounding stimuli. The combination of stimuli-response with the unique luminescent properties of lanthanides has great potential for numerous applications. Compared to other stimuli, light irradiation offers many advantages, such as cleanliness, easy availability, high efficiency, and remoteness. This review focuses on the construction and response mechanism of photoresponsive lanthanide luminescent materials. Furthermore, various important applications in luminescent actuators, photoswitches, intelligent anticounterfeiting, and theranostics are also highlighted in detail.