Preparation and characterization of photo-stimuli-responsive fibers based on lanthanide-activated phosphors and spiropyran dye

Stimuli-responsive fibers are highly desirable for their potential applications in areas such as anti-counterfeiting, optical memory systems, colorimetric sensing, and bioimaging sensors. An iridescent luminescent fibers that can achieve multi-color with long afterglow and photochromic properties is always required in color-on-demand applications. Here, a set of distinct three-primary colors luminescent fibers based on red-green-blue (RGB) system. Y2O2S:Eu3+, Mg2+, Ti4+ (red), SrAl2O4:Eu2+, Dy3+ (green), Sr2MgSi2O7: Eu2+, Dy3+ (blue) are successfully synthesized. Spiropyran and as-prepared luminescent materials are introduced into PAN fibers by a one-step extrusion wet-spinning process to achieve distinct three-primary colors luminescent photochromic fiber. These as-prepared fibers emit bright lights under excitation of ultraviolet with long afterglow. These fibers exhibit outstanding tensile properties which allow knitting or weaving them into demonstrated functional designs for aesthetic designs and encryption/decryption protocols. Comparing with previous studied stimuli-responsive fibers, our research focus on distinct three-primary colors luminescent photochromic fibers present enormous potential in 3D printing, information encryption, and next generation smart fibers. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

This study successfully synthesized three different luminescent materials based on the RGB system, introduced them into fiber preparation, and achieved unique three-primary color luminescent photochromic fibers with bright light and long afterglow. These fibers have outstanding tensile properties and are suitable for aesthetic design and encryption/decryption protocols.