Lanthanide-hydrogel with reversible dual-stimuli responsive luminescent switching property for data protection

Abstract

The development of data protection materials with low cost is still challenging in the era of big data and artificial intelligence. Herein, the luminescent hydrogel with luminescent switching property was prepared by the introduction of lanthanide complex into poly(vinyl alcohol) gelation matrix. The developed luminescent hydrogel showed good reversible luminescent switching behavior under the stimulation of HCl/NH3 and Fe3+/EDTA2-, respectively. It enables the hydrogel to be applied as reversible data security storage material with low cost. The results showed that the input and erasure of data was reversible. Moreover, the fabricated data was invisible under daylight whereas it was visible under UV light. It is suitable for data protection. Furthermore, the combination of dual-stimuli was demonstrated to improve the security level of data effectively. The hydrogel also exhibited good stability against UV irradiation. The findings suggested that the stimuli-responsive luminescent hydrogel has potential application in data protection.