Supramolecular Entanglement Driven Emissive Aggregate Densification Enabling Room‐Temperature Phosphorescence Hydrogels with Ultrastretchability and Crack‐Tolerance

Abstract Polymeric room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) hydrogels are emerging candidates for many advanced photonic applications. Unfortunately, phosphorescence of the introduced RTP chromophores can easily be quenched in water‐swollen hydrogel networks, limiting their luminescence performance and application adaptability. Herein, we propose a supramolecular confinement‐entanglement synergy strategy to produce ultrastretchable RTP hydrogels by in‐situ polymerizing high‐concentration 2‐(acryloyloxy)ethyl trimethylammonium chloride (AETC) in the presence of preassembled 4‐biphenylboronic acid@β‐cyclodextrin (4‐BB@β‐CD) emissive aggregates. The hyper‐entangled poly(AETC) (PAETC) chains, formed under water‐limiting conditions, synergistically densify the 4‐BB@β‐CD aggregates through supramolecular confinement, effectively suppressing molecular vibrations and stabilizing triplet states. Impressively, the hydrogels exhibit intense afterglow and ultralong phosphorescence lifetime up to 1.1 s under room conditions. Crucially, the entanglement‐dominated physical network free of static chemical crosslinking enables continuing chain disentanglement during stretching for efficient energy dissipation. Segment length between physical entanglement points can thus be significantly enlarged to reduce network fracture and avoid crack propagation, achieving record‐breaking uniaxial/biaxial (21 000%/10 000%) stretchability. Even the notched hydrogels are capable of being unprecedentedly stretched to 20 500% and exhibit a fracture energy as high as 157 kJ m⁻ 2 , demonstrating intrinsic crack‐tolerance. This study opens new avenues of polymeric RTP hydrogels by bringing superior mechanical performance and should merit their application exploration.

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Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie
Published
2025-05-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202505192
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Advanced Materials and Mechanics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.71
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article

Supramolecular Entanglement Driven Emissive Aggregate Densification Enabling Room‐Temperature Phosphorescence Hydrogels with Ultrastretchability and Crack‐Tolerance

Wei Lu, Guang‐Qiang Yin, Kai Zhang, Tao Chen et al.
1 citations
Angewandte Chemie
Advanced Materials and Mechanics
0.71
article

Supramolecular Entanglement Driven Emissive Aggregate Densification Enabling Room‐Temperature Phosphorescence Hydrogels with Ultrastretchability and Crack‐Tolerance

Wei Lu, Guang‐Qiang Yin, Kai Zhang, Tao Chen, Fen Li, Zizhen Jiang, Ning Zhu, Weihao Feng, Chaojun Yue
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract Polymeric room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) hydrogels are emerging candidates for many advanced photonic applications. Unfortunately, phosphorescence of the introduced RTP chromophores can easily be quenched in water‐swollen hydrogel networks, limiting their luminescence performance and application adaptability. Herein, we propose a supramolecular confinement‐entanglement synergy strategy to produce ultrastretchable RTP hydrogels by in‐situ polymerizing high‐concentration 2‐(acryloyloxy)ethyl trimethylammonium chloride (AETC) in the presence of preassembled 4‐biphenylboronic acid@β‐cyclodextrin (4‐BB@β‐CD) emissive aggregates. The hyper‐entangled poly(AETC) (PAETC) chains, formed under water‐limiting conditions, synergistically densify the 4‐BB@β‐CD aggregates through supramolecular confinement, effectively suppressing molecular vibrations and stabilizing triplet states. Impressively, the hydrogels exhibit intense afterglow and ultralong phosphorescence lifetime up to 1.1 s under room conditions. Crucially, the entanglement‐dominated physical network free of static chemical crosslinking enables continuing chain disentanglement during stretching for efficient energy dissipation. Segment length between physical entanglement points can thus be significantly enlarged to reduce network fracture and avoid crack propagation, achieving record‐breaking uniaxial/biaxial (21 000%/10 000%) stretchability. Even the notched hydrogels are capable of being unprecedentedly stretched to 20 500% and exhibit a fracture energy as high as 157 kJ m⁻ 2 , demonstrating intrinsic crack‐tolerance. This study opens new avenues of polymeric RTP hydrogels by bringing superior mechanical performance and should merit their application exploration.

Angewandte ChemieVol. 137(29)
Nanjing Tech University (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Ningbo Institute of Industrial Technology (CN), University of Göttingen (DE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 33%
Advanced Materials and Mechanics
0.71
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