Harnessing Polymer Matrices for Tuning the Luminescence and Photochromism Properties of Organic Photoresponsive Materials

Organic photoresponsive materials, especially room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) and photochromic materials, have garnered extensive attention in recent years. However, the fabrication of organic polymer films with these two tunable photoresponsive characteristics remains a challenge. Herein, an organic photochromic phosphor, 2,2’-dinaphthylamine, is described, and hybrid polymer films with tunable RTP and photochromism characteristics were prepared by simply doping the chromophore into different functional polymer matrices of PS, PMMA, and PAN at a low mass fraction of 1%. As the polarity of side chains increases, the electrostatic interactions between the chromophore and polymer matrices increase accordingly, leading to the enhanced RTP and declined photochromism. The transition mode of excited-state energy for RTP or photochromism could be regulated by simply altering functional polymer matrices, providing valuable information for understanding the inherent mechanism. Furthermore, multilevel advanced encryption and information storage systems based on hybrid polymer materials are manufactured.