Citation: Zihan Cheng, Kai Jiang, Jun Jiang, Henggang Wang, Hengwei Lin. Achieving thermal-stimulus-responsive dynamic afterglow from carbon dots by singlet-triplet energy gap engineering through covalent fixation[J]. Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica, ;2026, 42(2): 100169. doi: 10.1016/j.actphy.2025.100169 shu

Achieving thermal-stimulus-responsive dynamic afterglow from carbon dots by singlet-triplet energy gap engineering through covalent fixation

Zihan Cheng ¹ ,
Kai Jiang ^1,, ,
Jun Jiang ¹ ,
Henggang Wang ^{1, 2,,} ,
Hengwei Lin ^1,,

1.
International Joint Research Center for Photo-responsive Molecules and Materials, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu Province, China
2.
Chemistry Postdoctoral Research Station at Hebei Normal University, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024, Hebei Province, China

Corresponding author: Kai Jiang, jiangkai@jiangnan.edu.cn Henggang Wang, wanghenggang11@163.com Hengwei Lin, linhengwei@jiangnan.edu.cn
Received Date: 20 June 2025
Revised Date: 11 August 2025
Accepted Date: 19 August 2025

Integrating stimuli-responsive luminescence with dynamic emission properties offers a powerful strategy to enhance information encryption through multi-level authentication systems. By rationally tuning the singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔE_ST) of a material, simultaneous activation of phosphorescence (Phos) and delayed fluorescence (DF) can be achieved, enabling programmable dynamic afterglow behavior. In this work, we report the first carbon dot (CD)-based thermoresponsive dynamic afterglow material, synthesized via in situ covalent immobilization of CDs within a cyanuric acid matrix. The resulting system demonstrates a thermally driven green-to-blue afterglow transition across a wide temperature range (273.15–423.15 K), exhibiting dual-mode thermochromic afterglow (TCA) and time-resolved afterglow (TRA) characteristics. Notably, a blue-to-green afterglow transition occurs above the threshold temperature of 348.15 K, where TRA dominates due to temperature-dependent exciton redistribution. This synergistic TCA-TRA interplay endows the material with unprecedented dynamic afterglow modulation capabilities. Structural and photophysical analyses confirm that covalent fixation reduces the ΔE_ST of CDs from 0.46 to 0.28 eV, as designed. This ΔE_ST engineering enables thermal control over the Phos/DF equilibrium, directly governing the observed dynamic emission. Finally, the potential applications of the prepared material in thermal monitoring and high-security information protection are also demonstrated.
- Carbon dots,
- Thermochromic afterglow,
- Dynamic afterglow,
- Stimuli-responsive afterglow,
- Covalent fixation
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