Disturbance-Triggered Instant Crystallization Activating Bioinspired Emissive Gels

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomimicry
• Optoelectronics

Background:

• Marine organisms use bioluminescence for sensing and defense.
• Developing artificial materials with disturbance-induced luminescence is challenging.
• Existing materials lack sensitivity and simultaneous luminescence activation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create novel bioinspired smart gels with disturbance-sensing and luminescence capabilities.
• To investigate the mechanism behind disturbance-induced luminescence.
• To demonstrate potential applications in visual sensing and displays.

Main Methods:

• Integration of hydrophilic polymeric networks, metastable supersaturated salt, and heterogenic atom-containing fluorophores.
• Inducing external disturbance to trigger soft-rigid state transitions.
• Utilizing experimental characterization and molecular dynamics simulations.

Main Results:

• Composite gels exhibited instant, reversible soft-rigid state transitions upon disturbance.
• Simultaneous activation of intense fluorescence and ultralong afterglow (max lifetime 877.15 ms).
• Disturbance-induced luminescence attributed to geometrical confinement of fluorophores and suppressed non-radiative dissipation.

Conclusions:

• The developed smart gels offer a new platform for disturbance-sensing soft materials.
• This work advances the development of intelligent visual sensors and interactive optical displays.
• The bioinspired approach provides a novel pathway for creating advanced luminescent materials.