Photonics of organic photochromic systems: Modern trends

Photoluminescent Polymer Nanoparticles Based on Oxazolidine Derivatives for Authentication and Security Marking of Confidential Notes

Colloidal materials have widely been used to develop innovative anticounterfeiting nanoinks for information encryption. Latex nanoparticles based on methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) bearing hydroxyl functional groups were synthesized via semicontinuous miniemulsion polymerization. The size determination of the nanoparticles and microscopic results showed mostly spherical nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution and a mean size of about 80 nm. Two oxazolidine derivatives were physically doped at the surface of the nanoparticles to prepare photoluminescent polymer nanoparticles. Hydroxyl functional groups at the surface of the nanoparticles led to their hydrogen bonding interactions with the doped luminescent compounds. Optical analysis of the photoluminescent nanoparticles displayed different fluorescence emission and UV-vis absorbance intensities based on the amount of polar groups located at the surface of colloidal nanoparticles. Reducing the particle size to below 100 nm along with increasing the surface area can assist the decrease of the light reflectance and improvement of the latex nanoparticles' efficiency in the anticounterfeiting industry. This preparation methodology can efficiently provide remarkable photoreversible anticounterfeiting nanoinks used in different applications, such as print marking, security encoded tags, labeling, probing, and handwriting.

Selective acceleration of the protonated merocyanine-spiropyran photochromic transformation by inclusion in cucurbit[7]uril

The effect of cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) on the spiropyran-merocyanine photochromic interconversion was studied in acidic and alkaline aqueous solutions. The merocyanine (MC) isomer was found to be the thermodynamically most stable form both in water and in the presence of CB7. A preferential binding of the protonated merocyanine (MCH(+)) to CB7 was observed with an equilibrium constant of 7.4×10(4) m(-1), and the complex formation led to significant diminution of acidity of the guest. The photoinduced transformation of MCH(+) to the spiropyran isomer was accelerated 2.3-fold upon addition of CB7, whereas the rates of the other photochromic processes were not affected. The partial inclusion of MCH(+) in CB7 led to dual fluorescence due to the incomplete deprotonation in the singlet-excited state.