Recyclable photoluminescent composites via incorporating ZnS-based phosphors into dynamic crosslinking elastomeric matrixes

The rapid advances in photochromic devices have spurred great enthusiasm in the design and preparation of luminescent materials. It is an efficient and facile strategy to incorporate ZnS-based phosphors into crosslinking polymer substrates, obtaining photochromic materials with excellent comprehensive properties. However, crosslinking polymeric ZnS-based phosphor luminous materials are unable to be recycled and reprocess at the end of service, limiting their long-term utilization and burdening the environment. Besides, few reported works have explored photoluminescent properties of samples during multiple reprocessing and recycling. Herein, enlightened by the intriguing dynamic covalent crosslinking technology, recyclable and photoluminescent elastomers, employed polymeric flexible matrixes with dynamic covalent joints integrated with ZnS:Cu and ZnS:Cu,[M.sub.n] phosphors, were prepared in this work. Due to the breakage and reformation of exchangeable crosslinking connections and intensive interfacial interactions between polar elastomeric matrixes and luminophores, the original and recycled composites exhibit excellent recyclable, photoluminescent, and mechanical properties. We anticipate that the strategy of this work, inserted phosphors into dynamic crosslinking polymer matrixes with a facile fabrication process, paves the way for the recycling and long-term utilization of photoluminescent materials. KEYWORDS composites, elastomers, luminescence, recycling
1 | INTRODUCTION Luminescent materials, under proper external stimuli, exhibit photoluminescent, electroluminescent, and mechano-luminescent properties, [1-6] extensively applied in display, sensing, anticounterfeiting, bioimaging, and biological probes. [7-11] Three types of [...]