journal article·2026-07-01Open access

Bypassing Pre‐Photoactivation in High‐Barrier Polyamide for Robust and Scalable Organic Persistent Luminescence

Yunlong Yang, Sha Liu, Shilin Bo, Longming Jin, Baijun Tang, Zhiying Guo, Chengtao Gao, Xionggang Wang, Yuejun Liu, Qiang Zheng, Zi Liang Wu

Abstract

ABSTRACT The critical trade‐off between ambient stability and moisture/oxygen barrier properties has long hindered the practical application of organic persistent luminescent (OPL) polymers, particularly for rapid‐response photoluminescence in demanding environments. Such limitations are manifested in direct‐doping systems, which suffer from humidity‐induced mechanical deterioration and sluggish excitation kinetics. Here, we overcome this fundamental limitation by molecularly locking chromophores within a poly( m‐ xylene adipamide) (MXD6) matrix via melt doping. The engineered OPL composites leverage MXD6's exceptional barrier (oxygen transmission rate (OTR): 0.68 cm 3 ·m −2 ·day −1 ·bar −1 ; water vapor transmission rate (WVTR): 5.3 g·m −2 ·day −1 ) to achieve efficient multicolor afterglow with high quantum yields ( Φ afterglow = 30.6%) and long lifetimes (5.6 s), operating stably without pre‐photoactivation. Remarkably, they retain >90% of afterglow efficiency after 30 days of continuous water immersion. Integrated experimental and computational studies reveal that multiple disordered hydrogen bonding simultaneously rigidify the polymer matrix and interlock chromophores, establishing an oxygen and water barrier for triple excitons. This strategy enables meter‐scale homogeneous fibers and transparent films that validate industrial viability for versatile luminescent devices. This work offers a universal paradigm for ambient‐stable OPL polymers, solving the stability‐barrier trade‐off to unlock rapid‐response luminescence in demanding environmental applications.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Luminescence and Fluorescent Materials · Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Research · Synthesis and properties of polymers

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Hunan Engineering Laboratory of Polymer Packaging Materials Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Packaging Materials and Technology School of Packaging Engineering Hunan University of Technology Zhuzhou China

Key Laboratory for Polymeric Composite and Functional Materials of the Ministry of Education School of Chemistry Sun Yat‐sen University Guangzhou China

National Engineering Research Center for Compounding and Modification of Polymer Materials (Guizhou Material Industrial Technology Institute) Guiyang China

Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization Department of Polymer Science and Engineering Zhejiang University Hangzhou China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province

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