Multi-Functional Hydrogels Simultaneously Featuring Strong Fluorescence, Ultralong Phosphorescence, and Excellent Self-Healing Properties and Their Use for Advanced Anti-counterfeiting

Herein, we present a class of multi-functional hydrogels, which simultaneously features strong fluorescence, ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP), and excellent self-healing properties. In particular, the as-prepared hydrogels could produce strong fluorescence with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) value of 22.4%, as well as ultralong RTP (lasts for ∼20 s with phosphorescence lifetime of ∼264 ms). In addition to the superior optical performance, the as-prepared hydrogels possess excellent self-healing property, with ∼91.5% self-healing efficiency at room temperature and an increased elasticity of ∼281%. Taking advantages of these unique merits, we further exploit such high-performance hydrogels for advanced anti-counterfeiting applications. Significantly, the hydrogel-based anti-counterfeiting tags are capable of realizing multi-color static information in the spatial scale and more than five kinds of dynamic information during 15 s of the phosphorescence decay process in the temporal scale.