Researchers have developed a class of fluorescent donor-acceptor Stenhouse adducts that use energy transfer between photoswitch isomers to achieve contactless, dynamic fluorescence modulation, according to research published in Nature Communications.
The peer-reviewed study, published on August 21, 2026, addresses difficulties in balancing fluorescence with photoswitching performance while enabling isomerization within solid matrices. The synthesized molecules demonstrate high photoswitching efficiency alongside high fluorescence quantum yields using fluorescence resonance energy transfer between isomers.
The research team embedded the photoswitches into shape-memory polymer films to test performance in solid states. This integration allowed stable, efficient isomerization, rapid recovery, and repeated reuse. Using these films, the researchers demonstrated practical use cases in multi-level information encryption and cold-chain transport labeling.
Yang Xu, Rongpeng Pan, Weike Zou, Yuqi Tang, and Quan Li authored the paper. The researchers are affiliated with the Institute of Intelligent Materials and the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Southeast University in Nanjing, the School of Intelligent Science and Engineering at Southeast University in Wuxi, and the Materials Science Graduate Program at Kent State University in Ohio.
Financial support came from the Jiangsu Innovation Team Program, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of the CPSF, the Jiangsu Funding Program for Excellent Postdoctoral Talent, and the SEU Innovation Capability Enhancement Plan for Doctoral Students. The authors declared no competing interests.
