Laser-rewritable room temperature phosphorescence based on in-situ polymerized tartaric acid

Organic room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have potential applications in information technology and bioimaging. However, the precise control of the afterglow in reversible manners remains challenging for organic matters. Here, we report a kind of organic RTP material fabricated by simple heating mixtures of tartaric acid (TA) and aromatic acids, which can switch their phosphorescence by laser. Those mixtures show tunable phosphorescence from indigo to orange with phosphorescence efficiency of up to 53.99% due to locking different organic luminogens by the TA-formed matrix through the non-covalent interactions. The afterglow of those materials lasts a few seconds and disappears by water fumigation, which can be repeated in response to wet/heat stimuli. With drop-casting those materials on glass slides, a laser-repatternable phosphorescence is achieved by facile laser direct writing and quenched by water cyclically. Those results open the opportunity for the design of smart stimuli-responsive phosphorescence materials from sustainable natural products.