Application of photoluminescent materials in cultural relics protection

At present, issues such as counterfeiting of cultural relics, damage to cultural relics, and difficulties in the restoration and detection of cultural relics are urgent problems to be solved in cultural relics protection. Therefore, it is necessary to develop protective materials for cultural relics to prevent their counterfeiting, delay their damage, and achieve visual detection. Photoluminescent materials match well with the requirements of protecting cultural relics and have become a research hotspot in cultural relics protection due to their advantages of rich optical properties, low damage potential, high chemical stability, and safety. This study firstly introduces the luminescence mechanisms and main synthesis strategies of photoluminescent materials. Then, the research status of the photoluminescent materials in cultural relics protection in recent years is elaborated in detail, and four types of applications of photoluminescent materials in cultural relics protection (anticounterfeiting of cultural relics, anti-aging of cultural relics, damage monitoring of cultural relics, and restoration detection of cultural relics) are summarized and concluded. Finally, the problems and challenges faced in the application of photoluminescent materials in cultural relics protection are pointed out, and future development directions are proposed.