Luminescent self-healing materials constructed via coordination between lanthanide ions and phenanthroline-tethered to polymer chain

Self-healing material with additional properties has constituted a great family of functional materials. Herein, self-healing and stretchable luminescent elastomers, Polymer-Phen-Eu3+, Polymer-Phen-Tb3+ and Polymer-Phen-Eu(tta)(3), were prepared by linking Ln(3+) (Eu3+/Tb3+) or tris(2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonato) europium (III) dihydrate complexes (Eu(tta)(3)center dot 2H(2)O) with the polymer ligand based on PDMS chains and phenanthroline moieties. The dynamic Ln-ligand cross-linking and hydrogen bonds endow the as-prepared materials with fast self-healing capability as well as good mechanical property. Compared to Polymer-Phen-Ln(3+), Polymer-Phen-Eu (tta)(3) behaved higher elasticity and faster self-healing property due to its smaller steric hindrance owing to the presence of the beta-diketone ligand (tta), which feature the polymer with loosely accumulated chains, and better luminescent behavior because of the coordinated water molecules being expelled by the coordination of tta to Eu3+ ions and energy transfer from tta to Eu3+. In addition, the resulting materials, Polymer-Phen-Ln(3+) and Polymer-Phen-Eu(tta)(3), can also be processed into flexible and self-healing conductors upon the embedding of silver nanowires, which was crucial to their applications in wearable intelligent devices, visualized force and sensing optical coating.