Issue 11, 2022

Multi-level encryption of information in morphing hydrogels with patterned fluorescence

Abstract

Fluorescent hydrogels have attracted tremendous attention recently in the field of information security due to the booming development of information technology. Along this line, it is highly desired to improve the security level of concealed information by the advancements of materials and encryption technologies. Here we report multi-level encryption of information in a bilayer hydrogel with shape-morphing ability and patterned fluorescence. This hydrogel is composed of a fluorescence layer containing chromophore units in the poly(acrylic acid) network and an active layer with UV-absorption agents in the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) network. The former layer exhibits tunable fluorescence tailored by UV light irradiation to induce unimer-to-dimer transformation of the chromophores, facilitating the write-in of information through photolithography. The latter layer is responsive to temperature, enabling morphing of the bilayer hydrogel. Therefore, the bilayer hydrogel encoded with patterned fluorescent patterns can deform into three-dimensional configurations at room temperature to conceal the information, which is readable only after successive procedures of shape recovery at an appropriate temperature and under UV light irradiation from the right direction. The combination of morphing materials and patterned fluorescence as a new avenue to improve the encryption level of information should merit the design of other smart materials with integrated functions for specific applications.

Graphical abstract: Multi-level encryption of information in morphing hydrogels with patterned fluorescence

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 jan 2022
Accepted
12 feb 2022
First published
14 feb 2022

Soft Matter, 2022,18, 2149-2156

Multi-level encryption of information in morphing hydrogels with patterned fluorescence

L. X. Hou, H. Ding, X. P. Hao, C. N. Zhu, M. Du, Z. L. Wu and Q. Zheng, Soft Matter, 2022, 18, 2149 DOI: 10.1039/D2SM00083K

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