Pyrene-based aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) with less colour migration for anti-counterfeiting applications

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. C, Materials for optical and electronic devices Vol. 9; no. 37; pp. 12828 - 12838
• Main Authors: Wang, Xiaohui, Wang, Lirong, Mao, Xiaoyu, Wang, Qingsong, Mu, Zhongfei, An, Li, Zhang, Wan, Feng, Xing, Redshaw, Carl, Cao, Changyong, Qin, Anjun, Tang, Ben Zhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 07.10.2021
• Subjects: Agglomeration; Biocompatibility; Color; Counterfeiting; Emission; Fluorescence; Inks; Quenching; Screen printing; Substrates; Thermal stability
• ISSN: 2050-7526; 2050-7534
• DOI: 10.1039/d1tc03022a

Traditional luminescent materials are subject to aggregation-caused quenching, which limits their use for high-technological applications in the solid state. In an attempt to address such issues when using luminescent materials in fluorescent inks, by taking advantage of the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behaviour, this article presents a set of pyrene-based AIEgens which possess high thermal stability, excellent fluorescence properties, and good biocompatibility. These AIEgens can be utilized as fluorescent inks for anti-counterfeiting applications at ultralow/low concentration (0.004-0.5 wt%) (weight AIEgens  : weight binder = 5 : 125 000-5 : 1000) with slight colour migration (<27 nm) for different printing substrates. The use of such a fluorescent ink containing pyrene-based AIEgens has extended the scope of application over the range from ultralow to high concentration thereby avoiding the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect. Additionally, this system would lower the product cost, and be beneficial for the environment. The high-quality fluorescence pattern was found to exhibit good printability on different types of paper by old printing technology (screen printing technology). This work highlights that pyrene-based AIEgens are excellent candidates for use in anti-counterfeiting, and these results have the potential to enrich the practical applications of AIEgens in both academic and industrial fields. A series of pyrene-based AIEgens have been employed in the preparation of fluorescent inks with less colour migration for anti-counterfeiting applications over the ultra-low to high concentration range and avoids the ACQ effect.