Photochromic Spiropyran-Based Dual-Emitting Luminescent Hybrid Films for Dynamic Information Anticounterfeiting

Photoluminescent materials are widely used for information storage and anticounterfeiting, while most of them have the disadvantages of static information performance and weak processability, which is still a challenging task in developing dynamic anticounterfeiting materials with high security levels. Herein, we fabricated a novel photostimuli-responsive dual-emitting luminescent material UPTES-SPn-Tb-hfa, which was obtained by introducing the photochromic molecule spiropyran (SP) and lanthanide complex (Tb-hfa) into a siloxane-polyether matrix using the sol–gel process. Due to the conformation-dependent photochromic fluorescence resonance energy transfer between the Tb-hfa donor and SP acceptor, the ring-closing (SP)/ring-opening (MC) isomerization of the SP unit leads to a reversible luminescence switching in UPTES-SPn-Tb-hfa. This composite material has great potential for advanced anticounterfeiting because of the advantage of rapidly repeatable encryption/decryption for at least 8 times and dynamic luminescent colors within 15 s. In addition, due to its two luminescent centers (Tb3+ and MC), the luminescent color of this material can be regulated by 254 and 365 nm UV-light irradiation, which facilitates the design of multicolored anticounterfeiting labels. Our work presents a novel design methodology to fabricate dynamic anticounterfeiting materials, significantly enhancing the security of anticounterfeiting applications.