Melt-Processable Manganese (II)-Based Hybrid Luminescent Glass Enables Lifetime-Based Thermal Imaging

Fluorescence lifetime (FL)-based thermal imaging can be applied on geometrically complex curved surfaces, which necessitates the development of conformable and thermosensitive luminescent materials. However, FL-type optical thermometry relies predominantly on crystalline rare earth phosphors, which are difficult to scale from point sensing to complex surface measurements. In this study, we report a melt-processable manganese (II)-based hybrid glass that simultaneously delivers conformability and high thermal sensitivity by deliberately amplifying non-radiative relaxation pathways. Specifically, melt-quenching (5CTP)₂MnBr₄ (5CTP = 5-carboxypentyltriphenylphosphonium) transforms the highly symmetric crystalline solids into a disordered glassy network, introducing dense trap states and strong electron-phonon coupling, which together mediate thermally activated non-radiative decay and dramatically amplify the thermal sensitivity of the Mn²⁺ FL compared to its crystalline counterpart. Leveraging the low-temperature processability of the glass, we apply it as a conformal coating onto curved surfaces and demonstrate full-field remote thermal imaging by coupling pulsed laser excitation with a high-speed camera to extract pixel-wise FLs. This work establishes a new paradigm for highly sensitive, conformable hybrid halide luminescent glasses for advanced thermal diagnostics.