Advances in Luminescent Polyurethanes: Materials Design and Emission Modulation

ABSTRACT Luminescent materials have attracted significant attention owing to their diverse applications in flexible displays, bioimaging, information encryption, and chemical sensing. Polyurethanes (PUs), featuring high structural tailorability, dynamic hydrogen‐bonding networks, and microphase separation, serve not merely as passive host matrices but as active photophysical modulators. To overcome the abrupt transitions between disparate emitters, this review systematically categorizes functional fluorescent polyurethanes based on distinct matrix–emitter synergies across three primary luminescent sources: (1) metal‐based systems, where PU backbones act as macromolecular ligands to achieve dynamic coordination, high color purity, and extended lifetimes; (2) organic fluorophores and intrinsic emissive polyurethanes, where dense hydrogen‐bonding networks rigidify the microenvironment to suppress non‐radiative decay, enable stimuli‐responsive emission, and drive non‐traditional intrinsic luminescence (NTIL) via clusterization‐triggered emission (CTE); and (3) zero‐dimensional nanocomposites (e.g., quantum dots and perovskites), where PU serves as a protective micro‐encapsulant and surface defect passivator to enhance stability. Guided by an overarching conspectus scheme, we summarize structural design rules, combination modes, and energy‐transfer mechanisms governing PU–emitter interactions, while outlining critical challenges and future directions to inspire next‐generation smart optical polymers.