Processable circularly polarized luminescence material enables flexible stereoscopic 3D imaging

Mingjiang Zhang; Qi Guo; Zeyi Li; Yajie Zhou; Shanshan Zhao; Zhi Tong; Yaxin Wang; Guangen Li; Shan Jin; Manzhou Zhu; Taotao Zhuang; Shu-Hong Yu

doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi9944

Processable circularly polarized luminescence material enables flexible stereoscopic 3D imaging

Sci Adv. 2023 Oct 27;9(43):eadi9944. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi9944. Epub 2023 Oct 25.

Authors

Mingjiang Zhang¹, Qi Guo¹, Zeyi Li¹, Yajie Zhou¹, Shanshan Zhao¹, Zhi Tong¹, Yaxin Wang¹, Guangen Li¹, Shan Jin², Manzhou Zhu², Taotao Zhuang¹, Shu-Hong Yu^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, New Cornerstone Science Institute, Institute of Biomimetic Materials and Chemistry, Anhui Engineering Laboratory of Biomimetic Materials, Division of Nanomaterials and Chemistry, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
² Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China.
³ Institute of Innovative Materials (I2M), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Department of Chemistry, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.

Abstract

Endowing three-dimensional (3D) displays with flexibility drives innovation in the next-generation wearable and smart electronic technology. Printing circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials on stretchable panels gives the chance to build desired flexible stereoscopic displays: CPL provides unusual optical rotation characteristics to achieve the considerable contrast ratio and wide viewing angle. However, the lack of printable, intense circularly polarized optical materials suitable for flexible processing hinders the implementation of flexible 3D devices. Here, we report a controllable and macroscopic production of printable CPL-active photonic paints using a designed confining helical co-assembly strategy, achieving a maximum luminescence dissymmetry factor (g_lum) value of 1.6. We print customized graphics and meter-long luminous coatings with these paints on a range of substates such as polypropylene, cotton fabric, and polyester fabric. We then demonstrate a flexible textile 3D display panel with two printed sets of pixel arrays based on the orthogonal CPL emission, which lays an efficient framework for future intelligent displays and clothing.