Room-Temperature Phosphorescence Hydrogel with Multiple Color Based on Salt-Induced Aggregation

Organic photoluminescent materials with room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) are of great interest, yet achieving RTP in hydrogels faces challenges due to water-quenching effects. In this study, a straightforward method is presented to achieve RTP hydrogel using a self-healing and salt-hardening hydrogel. The hydrogel is synthesized by polymerizing acrylic acid (AA) with diethylenetriamine (DETA) as the dynamic crosslinker. The poly(acrylic acid)/DETA hydrogel could achieve an afterglow lasting 1.6 s after soaking with NaBr solution. The salt-enhanced hydrophobic aggregation of the hydrogel network promotes the clustering of carboxyl groups and oxygen atoms, resulting in a rigid environment that suppresses nonradioactive transitions and leads to the manifestation of RTP. Additionally, the dynamic association of AA-DETA allows the freeze-dried hydrogel powder to be blended with various hydrophobic dyes, leading to a remodelable hydrogel with delayed emission of multiple colors. In general, by combining salt-hardening property with self-healing property together, a RTP hydrogel platform that can be facilely loaded with various organic dyes is proposed. A room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) hydrogel with self-healing and salt-stiffening properties is reported. The hydrogel is synthesized with poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and diethylenetriamine (DETA). The salt-induced hydrophobic aggregation of PAA chains leads to an afterglow lasting 1.6 s. The dynamic crosslinking of DETA allows the dopping of organic dyes through remodeling the hydrogel, enabling RTP with multiple colors. image