Producing Photoactivated Room Temperature Phosphorescent Glass from Bamboo

Developing sustainable, mechanically robust photoactivated room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) glasses is critical yet challenging. Such materials, B-glass, are developed by infiltrating epoxy resin into a delignified bamboo framework, achieving exceptional mechanical strength (tensile: 133 MPa; impact: 55.6 kJ·m^- ²). Initial RTP emission in B-glass is quenched by residual oxygen but can be photoactivated via UV irradiation (365 nm), where triplet excitons consume trapped oxygen, extending phosphorescence lifetime from 21.1 to 180.9 ms after 30 s exposure. Oxygen re-diffusion under ambient air (7 h, dark) reversibly quenches emission, enabling dynamic on/off switching. Leveraging this behavior, B-glass serves as a reprogrammable platform for 3D luminescent architectures and multilevel optical data storage. This work advances eco-friendly RTP materials while offering a sustainable strategy for adaptive photonic technologies, balancing performance, environmental compatibility, and scalable fabrication.