Tunable Room-Temperature Phosphorescence via Cucurbituril-Based and Bromophenylpyridinium Copolymerization

The development of room-temperature phosphorescent materials represents a cutting-edge direction in optical materials that has wide-ranging potential applications. Herein, we report a tunable, repairable pyridinium-functionalized supramolecular phosphorescence system (P-BrPy/Q[8]) via copolymerization and host–guest complexation. The binding behaviors of the P-BrPy/Q[8] system was systematically characterized by reference to the interaction mode of the monomeric BrPy/Q[8] using techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The constructed supramolecular nanoparticles exhibit a long-lived (0.71 ms) room-temperature phosphorescence. Furthermore, by embedding the nanoparticles in a poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix and doping with rhodamine B has enabled a dynamic tuning of the phosphorescence from green (τ = 8.04 ms) to orange (τ = 4.97 ms) via phosphorescence resonance energy transfer. The composite material retains good mechanical properties (tensile strength ∼ 58 MPa) and exhibits water-responsive repair. This study provides design strategies for developing phosphorescent pyridinium-functionalized materials with environmental adaptability, tunable luminescence, and self-healing functions.