Multiple stimuli responsive afterglow in carbazole-attributed coordination polymers

Abstract

Afterglow or long persistent luminescence (LPL) materials have received great attention due to their potential applications. In this report, we synthesized two metal–organic coordination polymers, LIFM-ZJY-1 and LIFM-ZJY-2 by the self-assembly of 9-(4-carboxybenzyl)-9H-carbazole-3,6-dicarboxylic acid with Cd(II) and Zn(II) metal salts, which showed excitation wavelength, temperature and time-dependence afterglow properties, based on multiple excited states that can be regulated by external stimuli. Besides, theoretical calculation studies proved the experimental results of dual-fluorescence emission with Kasha and anti-Kasha characters. Given the unique fluorescence and dynamic afterglow properties, LIFM-ZJY-1 and LIFM-ZJY-2 are demonstrated for applications in multidimensional dynamic information encryption. These findings will open an avenue to explore anti-Kasha and dynamic afterglow materials and significantly broaden their applications.