Luminescent Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Metal Halides: An Emerging Class of Stimuli-Responsive Materials

Luminescent organic-inorganic metal halides (OIMHs) are well known as a new materials family in recent years. Novel materials and applications of luminescent OIMHs have been explored by changing either the organic component or the metal halide species. Thereinto, the stimuli-responsive (SR) phenomena in OIMHs have drawn much attention recently, for not only their attractive application potential but also the helpfulness in understanding the stability of OIMHs to the external environment. Herein, the luminescent OIMHs that are sensitive to external stimuli including contact, pressure, mechanical grinding, light, heat, and gas molecules, are reviewed, with an emphasis on analyses of the structural change during the SR process. The applications of SR luminescent OIMHs in widespread fields, including gas sensing, information encryption, and rewritable luminescent paper are summarized. Finally, the challenges that deserve to be further explored in this research field are discussed, which provides certain guidance for the future study of SR luminescent OIMHs.