Time-evolving self-assembly of a single-component fluorophore enables dynamic emission for temporal information...

Time-evolving supramolecular systems capable of autonomously generating multiple emissive states represent a comparatively underexplored dimension for optical information processing, with their realization in single-component platforms featuring intrinsic dynamic controllability being particularly challenging. Herein, we report a tris(cyanostyryl)benzene derivative (TCSE) whose time-dependent self-assembly spontaneously produces distinct emissive states, enabling temporal information encryption within a single-component system. In THF/H₂O solution, TCSE initially forms blue-emissive metastable nanoparticles, which gradually evolve into thermodynamically more stable green-emissive nanorods, generating a built-in time axis that can be directly visualized through dual-color fluorescence. In the solid state, TCSE exhibits reversible mechanofluorescence and enables self-erasing fluorescent writing. Distinct from conventional multicomponent or stimulus-responsive systems, this work establishes a single-component supramolecular platform that couples assembly kinetics with dynamic optical outputs, providing a new framework for temporal photonic information processing.