Halloysite nanotube-based self-healing fluorescence hydrogels in fabricating 3D cube containing UV-sensitive QR code...

With the evolution of information technology, the development of smart materials for the information storage and encryption is in urgent need. Herein, halloysite nanotubes (HNTs)-based self-healing hydrogels were facilely prepared by using aryl arylboronic acid-bearing tetraphenylethylene (TPE) as crosslinker agent, in which the HNTs were covalently bonded into the polymeric matrix. With the addition of HNTs, the obtained hydrogel (H2) shows improved compression resistance performance and self-healing property, which can be customed in certain shapes. The TPE-crosslinked hydrogels (H1 and H2) are able to emit bright blue fluorescence centering at 457 nm when exposed to 365 nm light. By holding together with 1,4-phenylenebisboronic acid-crosslinked hydrogels (H3) with non-fluorescence property, the obtained cube is able to store UV-sensitive QR code information which is potentially to be recognized by QR code scanner or other smart tools.