Nonaromatic Polymers with Tunable Clusteroluminescence and Long-Lived Room-Temperature Phosphorescence

Organic room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have garnered significant attention for their potential applications in anticounterfeiting authentication and bioimaging, due to their large Stokes shift and prolonged phosphorescence lifetime. However, the traditional RTP materials often suffer from drawbacks such as a complex preparation process and poor biocompatibility due to the presence of aromatic structures. In this study, we present a series of nontraditional intrinsic clusteroluminescent materials that exhibit RTP by introducing the concerted interactions of strong multiple ionic bonds and hydrogen bonds (H-bonds). A class of poly(maleic anhydride-alt-vinyl acetate) (PMV) derivatives with phosphorescence emission are obtained by hydrolysis of PMV. On the basis of these experiments, poly(maleic anhydride-acrylamide) (PMA) derivatives were prepared with a maximum phosphorescence lifetime of 442 ms and a quantum yield of 21% utilizing hydrogen bonding in the amide groups and ionic bonding induced by alcoholysis under alkaline conditions. The findings reveal that the strategic introduction of ionic bonds promotes conformational rigidification, while robust H-bonds further restrict molecular motion, thereby minimizing nonradiative decay pathways and leading to efficient RTP. Information encryption and humidity detection based on this material have been proven with its unique and sensitive water response properties.