Achieving Persistent Luminescence Performance Based on the Cation-Tunable Trap Distribution

Deep-red persistent luminescence (PersL) materials have promising applications in fluorescence labeling and tracking. PersL spectral range and PersL duration are considered to be the key factors driving the development of high-performance deep-red PersL materials. To address these two key issues, the performance of PersL materials was continually optimized by doping with cations (Si⁴⁺ and Al³⁺ ions), relying on the material of Li₂ZnGe₃O₈:Cr³⁺ from the previous work of our group, and a 4.8-fold increase in PersL radiation spectrum intensity and more than twice the PersL duration was achieved (PersL duration up to 47 h). Ultimately, the obtained PersL materials are used to demonstrate their potential use in multi-level anti-counterfeiting, tracking and localization, respectively. This study provides a unique and novel entry point for achieving high-performance PersL materials by optimizing the PersL material host to modulate the electronic structure.