Recent Advances in Organic Stimuli-Responsive-Luminescent Materials with High Contrast (Review)

Abstract

Purposes The development of information technology has significantly impacted economic, political, cultural, and military fields, and the information security is of great importance in modern society. Deep information-hiding, i．e. hiding the confidential information in an overt carrier, is one of the most important approach in improving information security and has been driving long research efforts in material science, communication technology and cryptology. Organic stimuli-responsive luminescent (SRL) materials that change their luminescence in response to mechanical force, thermal treatment, and light or pH value are considered as promising media candidates. Among them, the materials that exhibit SRL turn-on capabilities have shown advanced performances such as high contrast and signal to noise ratio, and aroused enormous interest. Methods The recent progress of SRL turn-on materials based on the MRL mechanisms and performances is reviewed following the sequence from changes in molecular structure to modifications in aggregate structure. A systematic summary of the material system is provided. Conclusions The existing challenges facing high-performance MRL turn-on materials, including the development of luminescence mechanisms, regulation of kinetic process and control of multi-phase state transitions are elaborated and rational solution are proposed. It will provide theoretical insights and practical experiences for the design, synthesis, and application of novel high-performance SRL materials.

Keywords

• stimuli-responsive luminescence
• fluorescence turn-on
• high contrast
• multi-phase conversion
• information deep-hiding