Strain‐Responsive Circularly Polarized Luminescence in Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Elastomers through Laser‐Engineered Microstructures
ABSTRACT The helical supramolecular cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) are an intrinsic chiral photonic structure that strongly enhances, enabling the amplification of circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) emission intensity and dissymmetry factors. However, the inherent mechanical fragility of CLCs causes them to readily deform under external stress, causing luminescence quenching and restricting their use in strain‐responsive solid‐state devices. To address this limitation, a femtosecond laser‐engineered microporous cholesteric liquid crystal elastomer (FLCLCE) is developed and integrated with achiral CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) to yield a robust and tunable CPL‐active material. The resulting FLCLCE‐QD composite exhibits strain‐tunable CPL and vivid structural color changes. The stress‐induced mechanochromic response is amplified by laser‐fabricated microporous arrays within the elastomer, simultaneously producing a unique checkerboard‐like optical pattern that enables dynamically adjustable CPL signals. Furthermore, by coupling the mechanically modulated color shifts with programmable CPL emission, the material supports the design of a multilevel optical anti‐counterfeiting system. Overall, this strategy provides a pathway to advanced applications in dynamic optical encryption and wearable polarization‐sensitive technologies.
Authors
- Yinjie Chen
- Yi Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2901-2198)
- Quan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0510-3258)
- Rafael S. Zola
- Xiaoqi Liu
Institutions
- Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (BR)
- Kent State University (US)
- Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication (CN)
- Southeast University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2025-12-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202528997
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Materials and Mechanics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities