The concept of AIE was firstly proposed in 2001 [
24], which is a phenomenon different from the traditional aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ). After two decades, AIE has developed into a thriving field, and the AIEgens have been widely investigated and applied in various fields, such as the theranostics [
25,
26,
27], biosensing [
28,
29,
30], organic luminescent materials [
31,
32], metal batteries [
33]. For the information encryption and anti-counterfeiting applications, the AIE materials should be responsive to external stimulus, resulting in the change of the luminescent properties. Recently, various stimuli-responsive AIEgens have been developed [
34]. For example, the AIEgens with mechanochromic property is an ideal candidate materials for the encryption application [
35,
36]. To obtain higher signal change ratio, AIEgen with force-trigger photoluminescence property was also investigated [
37]. Obviously, the AIEgens with multi-stimuli responsive and reversible fluorescence switching facilitate the designs for the advanced encryption applications [
38,
39,
40]. Herein, several kinds of AIE materials for information encryption and anti-counterfeiting are summarized.
2.1. AIEgens
Tetraphenylethene (TPE) is one of the mostly used AIE molecules, which exhibits blue luminescence under UV irradiation. By linking two sulfonate spiropyrans with one TPE covalently, Liu and coworkers prepared an AIE-active orange–red/blue switch with photochromism property, sulfonate spiropyran–TPE–sulfonate spiropyran (STS) [
41]. The STS can response not only to the acid/base stimulation, but also to the visible light irradiation and heating. Visible light irradiation could transfer orange–red STS into its ring-closed form, RSTRS, and the emission convert to blue. Both these two forms exhibit obvious AIE characteristic. Through incorporating STS into polyvinylpyrrolidone matrix, advanced information encryption was investigated. 0.5% volume fraction of nonvolatile sulfuric acid (0.5%) could stabilize the AIEgen in the STS form. while the AIEgen treated with 0.02% volume fraction of acid would be in the STS form, but light irradiation could covert it into the blue emissive RSTRS. Combined with the nonfluorescent red dye, three level of date encryption (“337”,”377”, and “71”) could be achieved simply (
Figure 1A).
In addition to the light, heat, acid/base responsive material, the mechanoresponsive AIEgen is also suitable for anti-counterfeiting and information encryption. By combing the spiro[fluorene-9,90-xanthene] and 9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine, Guo at al. prepared an AIE-active molecule (SFX-Ad) [
42]. The SFX-Ad displays mechanoresponsive property, and an obvious enhanced of the luminescence is companied with the crystal-to-amorphous transition. Based on this characteristic, the SFX-Ad could be the same as the non-emissive Na
2CO
3, no matter under UV or visible light. However, after the grinding treatment, the emission enhancement of SFX-Ad would supply the true information. And thus, the anti-counterfeiting and information encryption could be realized easily.
By tailoring the -bridge, Guo and coworkers regulated the luminescent behaviors of two carbazole derivatives, CPDI and CTDI [
43]. The phenyl -bridge of CPDI could led to an AIE characteristic accompanied with thermally stimulated emission turn-off. While the thienyl -bridge of CTDI led to an ACQ characteristic accompanied with thermally stimulated emission turn-on. By using UV-light irradiation and thermal treatment as two sequential keys, fourth-level information encryption was realized by combining these two AIE and ACQ molecules (
Figure 1B).
To achieve more color adjustments, a group of full-color-tunable AIEgens with mechanofluorochromic property were prepared by Tang and coworkers [
44]. By adjusting the electron-withdrawing ability of the acceptors in the D--A structure, a broad emission color was achieved. The emission wavelength could be from 460 nm to 640 nm by simply increasing grind time or variating the degree of the grind. And the emission was mainly dependent on the packing morphologies of the molecules in the crystals. Besides, the ethyl acetate (EA) steam treatment could lead to the recrystallization of the ground compounds and a blue shift of the luminescence was also accompanied. Based on this property, these AIEgens were used for the design of 4D code, which has the advantages such as strong fault tolerance and high reliability. Furthermore, the random grinding degrees was used to prevent counterfeiting and avoid duplication. To investigate the anti-counterfeiting applications of these AIEgens, a figure of ‘‘Starry Night’’ was prepared with these colorful AIEgens with random forces. Obviously, the color and luminescence information in this figure is difficult to forge. And the blue shifted color and emission of this figure after the treatment with EA further enhanced the level of the anti-counterfeiting. This design could also be used for the anti-counterfeiting of the identification (ID) card (
Figure 1C).
If multicolor fluorescence changes could be achieved through a single luminogen, it would be easier to be used as intelligent material. Tang and coworkers designed an AIEgen, (Z)-2-(5,5-dimethyl-3-(2-(4-oxo-4H-chromen-3-yl)-1-phenylvinyl)cyclohex-2-en-1-ylidene)malononitrile (CPVCM) [
45]. Firstly, the CPVCM could react with primary amines through amination reaction, resulting in fast and reversible color change. Secondly, it can also be response to the UV irradiation through photoarrangement accompanied with the blue-shifted emission. By using thin-layer chromatography plate as carrier, the multifunctional CPVCM was used for blue emissive information writing with UV lamp and mask. Then the propylamine vapor treatment could change the surrounding into red and orange emission. At last, the UV irradiation could change the whole plate into blue emissive, and thus the information was erased easily. According to the different response model of the amination process and the photoarrangment, the authors further combined polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) to regulate the degree of the amination process. In such case, the higher PMMA doping led to weaker amination process and the corresponding red shift. A multicolor and advanced information encryption was realized (
Figure 1D).
Another group of multiresponsive AIEgens, a series of 2-phenylazulene-1,1(8aH)-dicarbonitrile derivatives (DHAP-R, R=H, Br, Me, OMe, and NO
2), were also designed and prepared by Tang and coworkers [
46]. The DHAP-R could response to both UV irradiation and heating, resulting in ring-opening (VHFP-R, non-emissive) and ring-closed (DHAP-R, emissive) form reversibly. Based on this characteristic, DHAP-Br and PMMA (1:2) were used for information storage. The UV irradiation induced date information could be erased by the heating, which was dependent on the temperature and time. The extraction and deletion of information is important for an excellent information encryption system. In this system, the decrypted information could be erased in a period at a specific temperature.
When time is introduced into the information encryption systems, there will be some new opportunities and designs for high-level security. By combing the cationic TPE derivative (TPE4N
4+) with the anionic spiropyran (ASP), which could be transformed from the fromsulfonato-merocyanine photoacid (SMEH) under the 420 nm light irradiation, Tang et al. reported a time-dependent information encryption system [
47]. Once the ASP was formed, the electrostatic interactions between TPE4N
4+ and ASP would lead to the restriction of the molecular rotation of the TPE, resulting in the enhanced fluorescence emission. In such case, at the right time of UV irradiation, the true information could be decrypted. And after a period of dark condition, the emerged information would be erased, confirming an excellent self-erased property.
For the AIEgens, a simple change in a substituent or functional group might lead to a significant change in the properties of the molecule. Pu and coworkers obtained a group of benzothiadiazole derivatives, which exhibited AIE characteristic and different force-responsive fluorescence characteristics [
48]. One exhibits red-shifted mechanofluorochromism behavior, and three exhibit blue-shifted mechanofluorochromism behavior. While another two don’t response to the external mechanical stimulation. Based on this characteristic, multilevel information encryption was achieved easily.
Tetraphenylpyrazine (TPP) is also an important AIE structural unit and has various applications. To investigate its application in information storage, Chen and coworkers synthesized three AIEgens (TPP-o-py, TPP-m-py, TPP-p-py) with TPP as electronic donor to the acrylonitrile and pyridine as electronic acceptor [
49]. These AIEgens exhibited solvatochromic effect due to the twisted intramolecular transfer (TICT) effect, and they can response to the light and acid/base stimulus. With the silica gel plate as carrier, the reversible memory storage of the “JNU” could be achieved. In this process, the hydrochloric acid induced protonation effect transfers the AIEgens into a weak and red emission state. While the triphenylamine could erase this information. Once the AIEgens on the silica gel plate was irradiated with the UV light, an irreversible memory storage of the “AIE” could be realized which was attributed to the photodimerization reaction.
2.2. AIEgens-Matrix Composite Materials
For the above AIEgens based information encryption and anti-counterfeiting designs, the excellent stimuli-responsive property is essential. If some functional matrix is introduced, the common AIEgens could also be used for intelligent. By combing the TPE and the widely used energy acceptor in the spectroanalysis, graphene oxide (GO), Chen and coworkers designed a composite material, TPE@GO, which showed switchable microstructure and the corresponding fluorescence [
50]. The main working principle was as follows: Firstly, the TPE@GO was non-emissive duo to the fluorescence quenching capability of the GO through fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Once the THF/H
2O mixture (V
THF = 60%, with the higher fluorescence enhancement) was added, the TPE was dissolved in the THF and then aggregated into nanoparticles after the volatilization of H
2O. In such state, the blue emission of the TPE was recovered, and the information could be decrypted. While the formed TPE nanoparticles was further sprayed with pure THF, the TPE nanoparticles were dissolved and accompany with the information encryption again. Based on this mechanism, the authors designed the information encryption with this TPE@GO functional material (
Figure 2A).
Different from the regulation of luminescence with different water fraction, Zhang et al. designed a series of AIE-active freeze-tolerant hydrogels [
51]. The freezing temperatures (Tf) could be regulated by the betaine concentration, and once the temperature was lower than the Tf of the AIE-active hydrogels, the luminescence of the AIEgen, 2,2’,2”,2”’-((ethane-1,1,2,2-tetrakis(benzene-4,1-diyl)) tetrakis-(oxy)) tetraacetate (TPE-4CO
2Na) would turn on. Based on this temperature dependent luminescent property, this hydrogel was used for information encryption. Furthermore, the authors achieved the
in situ sulfidation of Cu
2O nanparticles into Cu
9S
8 nanoparticles, which exhibited excellent photothermal property. Combined with the near infrared light response, advanced could be achieved easily, and partial of the luminescence around the Cu
9S
8 nanoparticles could be selectively erased. Thanks to that the decrypted information was irreversibly sensitive to temperature fluctuation, this hydrogels could be used for the real-time monitoring of the cryopreserved biosamples during the cold-chain transportation.
In a similar way, Min and coworkers designed and prepared a functional composite phase change fiber containing the pyrene-based AIEgens (Py-CH) through by electrospinning technology [
52]. Accompanied with the increased temperature from 30 to 160
oC, the fluorescence of the Py-CH showed a blue shift from the green-yellow to purple. Combined with the excellent latent heat and stability to thermal cycling, this fiber displayed the potential application in various fields in addition to the anti-counterfeiting applications, such as the solar energy conversation and storage, and the high-temperature warning.
For the thermoresponsive materials, high contrast ratio (CR), fast and reversible thermoresponse were all attractive parameters. Li et al. synthesized a deep-red emissive squaraine-based AIEgen (TPE-SQ12) [
53]. By dispersed this AIEgen into the elastomer, a thermal-responsive luminescent materials was obtained. With the increased temperature, the free volume of elastomer was significantly expanded, resulting in the enhanced intramolecular movements of the AIEgens and the corresponding decreased luminescent intensity. Attributed to this responsive property, the authors achieved double encryption (
Figure 2B).
In order to endow the multi-responsive luminescent materials with self-healing capability, Jia and coworkers developed a self-healing hydrogel which exhibited multicolor luminescence and could be responsive to three external stimulus, including the UV light, acid, and Eu
3+ [
54]. The treatment with UV light would lead to the green emission, and the treatment with acid would lead to the yellow emission. While the Eu
3+ could lead to the red luminescence, which was attributed to the coordination between the Eu
3+ and the carboxyl. The UV light triggered emission enhancement could be recovered, so this hydrogel could be used for reversible information encryption and decryption. Based on the multi-responsive property, a multicolor chameleon-shaped hydrogel could be obtained. And a sequential color change from green to yellow could be achieved through adding acid to the UV irradiation triggered green emissive chameleon-shaped hydrogel. Furthermore, the sequential color change from green to red could be achieved by the addition of Eu
3+ to the green emissive chameleon-shaped hydrogel simply (
Figure 2C).
Endowing the multi-responsive luminescent materials with shape recovery capability is another interesting design for the intelligent materials. Tang et al. developed a functional bilayer hydrogel with synergistic deformation and fluorescence color (SDFC) change property. The fluorescence enhancement was attributed to the pH-driven aggregation of the AIEgens, and the electrostatic interaction and dynamic covalent bonds were also contributed to the aggregation. Based on this fluorescence change property, 2D information encryption could be realized easily. Together with the pH-triggered deformation capability, a sequential 3D multistage information encryption, decryption and self-erasure processes could be achieved (
Figure 2D), which was a typical advanced information encryption design and exhibited larger information storage capacities.
2.3. AIE Carbon Dots
Usually, the AIEgens refer to the organic molecules that exhibit AIE property. Actually, various nanomaterials, such as the metal clusters, carbon dots (CDs), have already exhibited typical AIE property and could be regarded as functional AIEgens. Recently, many AIE CDs has been prepared and used for anti-counterfeiting and information encryption applications.
Hydrothermal method is one of the most widely used methods for preparation of the CDs. By this simple method, Wang and coworkers synthesized a blue-emissive CDs with a quantum yield of 7.6% in aqueous state and 29.2% in solid state [
56]. So the CDs exhibited classical AIE property due to the functionalization by Na
+, and its emission color turned to cyan in solid state which was attributed to the surface state change caused by aggregation. Based on these characteristics, the authors used it for anti-counterfeiting designs. An image of waxberry on a filter paper was printed with the security inks composed by the CDs. Under 365 nm UV lamp, the waxberry showed cyan emission and blue emission once been wetted by water. In addition, this security inks could also be used for the printing of various text and patterns (
Figure 3A).
To develop the multi-color anti-counterfeiting and information encryption technologies, the multi-color AIE CDs were prepared by Gao and coworkers [
57]. By using crystal violet as the precursor, four AIE CDs with different emission color (B-AIE-CDs, G-AIE-CDs, Y-AIE-CDs, and O-AIE-CDs) were synthesized. The sulfuric acid concentrations, the temperatures and reaction times, played important roles, but the concentration of the sulfuric acid was the most important one due to its function in regulation of the carbonization degree, and the type and content of nitrogen. Combined with the acid-sensitive property of partial of these AIE CDs, the applications for anti-counterfeiting and information encryption were investigated. Firstly, the acid triggered orange fluorescence of the real password could be clearly distinguished from the false password showed other fluorescence. Besides, the acid triggered decryption of the hidden information “123456789” displayed the excellent information encryption capability of these multi-color CDs (
Figure 3B).
Through the simple one-pot solvothermal method, Hu et al. synthesized a kind of functional hydrophobic CDs, which exhibited blue emission in the dispersed state and red emission in the aggregated state [
58]. The water could induced the aggregation of the hydrophobic CDs, leading to - stacking interactions of the carbonized cores and the accompanied red emission. And the AIE property might be from the restriction of the surfaces’ intramolecular rotation around disulfide bonds. Interestingly, the blue-red emission change is reversible by the regulation between the dissolved and aggregated state. The authors used this AIE CDs as luminescence ink for advanced anti-counterfeiting and dual-encryption applications. The blue emission of the pattern from the commercially available highlighter pen was almost stable after the water treatment no matter under 365 nm or 254 nm irradiation. However, the blue emission of the pattern from the luminescent ink of this hydrophobic CDs turned to pink under 365 nm irradiation, and it turned to red emission under the 254 nm irradiation. Obviously, this could be used for high level security and anti-counterfeiting. Combined with the wax sealing, this luminescent ink could be used for multilevel encryption information encryption. Because the “C”, “S” and “U” were covered with wax, their emission was no longer sensitive to the water treatment. And only the bare “S”, “U” and “N” showed the red emission under 254 nm irradiation, showing the true information (
Figure 3C).
Similarly, by using dithiosalicylic acid and precursors containing amino groups, Wang and coworkers also prepared CDs exhibited AIE property and dual-emission in different states [
59]. And the emission regulation was also reversible. When this CDs was used for information encryption, the water treatment could lead to the orange emission under 254 nm irradiation. While the emission of the words written by the commercially available highlighter pen showed no obvious changes (
Figure 3D).