Simultaneously achieving high capacity storage and multilevel anti-counterfeiting using electrochromic and electrofluorochromic dual-functional AIE polymers.

Abstract

With the advent of the big data era, information storage and security are becoming increasingly important. However, high capacity information storage and multilevel anti-counterfeiting are typically difficult to achieve simultaneously. To address this challenge, herein, two electrochromic and electrofluorochromic dual-functional polymers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics were rationally designed and facilely prepared. Upon applying voltages, the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the AIE polymers can undergo reversible changes, accompanied by variation of their color and emission. By utilizing the controllable characteristics of the polymers, dual-mode display devices were fabricated via a simple spraying technique. More interestingly, a four-dimensional color code device was constructed by adding color change multiplexing to the two-dimensional space, thereby achieving high capacity information storage. Moreover, the color code device can also be applied in the multilevel anti-counterfeiting area. The encrypted information can be dynamically converted under different voltages. Thus, the AIE polymers show great promise for applications in multidimensional information storage and dynamic anti-counterfeiting, and the design strategy may provide a new avenue for advanced information storage and high security technology.