A Glassy Hydrogel Platform for Color-Tunable Room-Temperature Phosphorescence via Unmodified Aromatic Compounds...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Photophysics

Background:

• Stabilizing hydrophobic phosphors in aqueous environments for room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) is challenging.
• Commercial hydrophobic aromatic compounds are difficult to integrate into water-based matrices for RTP applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a versatile glassy hydrogel platform for stable, full-color RTP in aqueous conditions.
• To enable the encapsulation of unmodified commercial hydrophobic aromatic compounds within a rigid polymer network.
• To explore applications in anticounterfeiting, optical sensing, and underwater photonics.

Main Methods:

• Engineered a glassy hydrogel platform using a solvent exchange-induced nanoscale phase separation strategy.
• Encapsulated various commercial aromatic compounds within a rigid polymer network.
• Investigated the photophysical properties, mechanical robustness, and shape-memory characteristics of the resulting hydrogels.

Main Results:

• Achieved tunable full-color RTP with long-lived emission underwater.
• Demonstrated enhanced mechanical robustness and plastic-like rigidity.
• Exhibited shape-memory characteristics and programmable 2D/3D structural reconfiguration.
• Facilitated multidimensional information encryption via multicolor triplet-to-singlet Förster resonance energy transfer (TS-FRET) and high-resolution spatial patterning.

Conclusions:

• The developed glassy RTP hydrogels provide a general strategy for creating advanced materials.
• These hydrogels offer promising avenues for anticounterfeiting, optical sensing, and underwater photonic applications.
• The platform enables the creation of hydrogel-derived plastics with unique properties.