Dynamic covalent chemistry for self-erasable fluorescent organogel

Abstract

Information encryption has always played an important role in life. Herein, we have developed a self-erasable fluorescent material based on the non-equilibrium dynamic cross-linking reaction between the naphthalene and triazolinedione groups, which undergo cycloaddition under 525 nm light and spontaneous dissociation with the light off. The dynamic covalent reaction between these groups could effectively control the emission behavior of the material, allowing the visual track of chemically triggered covalent bonding processes in gelation and de-gelation of soft organogels. In addition, a light-responsive self-erasable fluorescent anti-counterfeiting system with information storage, encryption, self-erasing, and rewritability has been prepared. This material has exhibited self-erasable ability and improved the security for information encryption. Moreover, a “time-lock” information encryption system has been developed based on the irradiation time-dependent fluorescent property of this material. The development of this information encryption system not only simplifies the operation of encrypting and decrypting information but also improves their security level.