Excitation-Dependent Long-Life Luminescent Polymeric Systems under Ambient Conditions

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Jun 15;59(25):9967-9971. doi: 10.1002/anie.201912102. Epub 2019 Nov 4.

Abstract

Organic room temperature luminescent materials present a unique phosphorescence emission with a long lifetime. However, many of these materials only emit single blue or green color in spite of external stimulation, and their color tunability is limited. Herein, we report a rational design to extend the emission color range from blue to red by controlling the doping of simple pyrene derivatives into a robust polymer matrix. The integration of these pyrene molecules into the polymer films enhances the intersystem crossing pathway, decreases the first triplet level of the system, and ensures the films show a sensitive response to excitation energy, finally yielding excitation-dependent long-life luminescent polymeric systems under ambient conditions. These materials were used to construct anti-counterfeiting patterns with multicolor interconversion, presenting a promising application potential in the field of information security.

Keywords: aggregation-induced emission; anti-counterfeiting; doped polymer films; long-life luminescence; self-assembly.