3D-printed chiral luminous materials

3D printing allows creation of complex, precise chiral luminous materials—with dynamically switchable, circularly polarized light emissions—enabling spatial control over light-matter interactions for advanced optical applications. However, high-performance, additively manufactured chiral materials have yet to be realized, because preservation of chiral molecular alignment and interlayer structural integrity during rapid curing or processing remains challenging. Here, we present an interfacial phase-separated polymerization strategy, allowing rapid and robust production of 3D chiral luminous materials. These stereo-architectures are fabricated via layer-by-layer curing within 20 seconds and, more importantly, displaying 360° omnidirectional chiral light emission with an asymmetry factor 0.6. Furthermore, a finding—chiral emission inversion, tuned by excitation-light circuit switching or z-axis growth-inducing in our system—is observed. The synthesized 3D printed chiral luminous materials with satisfactory precision (10 microns, the limit of printer) pave the way for multifunctional chiral optical devices. Although 3D printing allows precise preparation of materials, it is challenging to prepare chiral materials by additive manufacturing. Here, the authors report a phase-separated polymerisation strategy that allows the preparation of 3D chiral luminous materials.