Directly printing of upconversion fluorescence-responsive elastomers for self-healable optical application

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2020-03, Vol.384, p.123375, Article 123375
• Main Authors: Yao, Weijing, Chen, Xiao, Tian, Qingyong, Luo, Chengsheng, Zhang, Xiaomei, Peng, Haiyan, Wu, Wei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Disulfide cross-linked; Fluorescence-responsive DSPU elastomers; Screen-printing; Self-healing; Upconversion crystals
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2019.123375

[Display omitted] •The novel upconversion fluorescence-responsive DSPU elastomers were designed.•Tunable RGB emissions and favorable self-healing ability achieved simultaneously.•Directly screen-printing method for achieving versatile fluorescence patterns.•Healing versatile 2D/3D fluorescence patterns into an integrated architecture. Lanthanide ions (Ln3+) doped upconversion crystals (UCCs) have promising application in optical anti-counterfeiting device, biomedical sensors and volumetric displays. However, these designed optical devices cannot recover their functions after mechanical damage and scratches. Herein, the novel upconversion fluorescence-responsive disulfide crosslinked polyurethane (DSPU) self-healing elastomers were designed for the first time, including the impaction of red-green-blue UCCs into DSPU (DSPU-UCCs) films and screen-printed fluorescence patterns on DSPU films. The DSPU-UCCs films exhibit tunable red-green-blue upconversion emissions as well as favorable mechanical properties (1037% stretchability) and self-healing ability (97.8% efficiency). The further investigations of the surface scratches and rheology results show that the disulfide bonds offer more efficient metathesis efficiency at higher temperatures. Moreover, the fluorescence-responsive self-healing elastomers can be reprocessed and reshaped, thus showing outstanding recyclability and sustainability. Directly screen-printing method was employed to fabricate versatile fluorescence patterns on DSPU elastomers, which can replace the traditional methods of relying on high-cost molds or masks to fabricate patterns. Healing scratches electronic patterns and assembling a series of versatile fluorescence patterns suggest that the upconversion fluorescence-responsive DSPU elastomers are highly promising for implementation in practical applications.