@article{Yan2025, 
author = {Xiaojian Yan and Lin Wang and Wencheng Zhong and Ximeng Wang and Wenxing Gao and Li Shang},
title = {Carbon dots-engineered gold nanoclusters in silica enabled aqueous-phase fluorescence-phosphorescence dual-emission towards advanced luminescent anti-counterfeiting},
year = {2025},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {18},
number = {2},
pages = {94907172},
keywords = {fluorescence, gold nanoclusters, carbon dots, phosphorescence, anti-counterfeiting},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94907172},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94907172},
abstract = {Development of new anti-counterfeiting technology with dynamic optical signals has drawn great attention, but the use of multiple external stimulus or long-time light irradiation inevitably increases the operation complexity and limits the practical application. In this work, we report the design of new fluorescence-phosphorescence dual-emission materials based on carbon dots (CDs)-engineered gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) in silica for advanced luminescent anti-counterfeiting. In particular, co-encapsulation of phosphorescent CDs and fluorescent AuNCs by rigid silica matrix enables the construction of a dual-emission system (AuNCs/CDs@SiO2) in aqueous phase. The AuNCs/CDs@SiO2 composite displayed significant fluorescence color change based on inner filter effect, as confirmed by in-depth spectral and photophysical characterization. Highly reversible and dynamic color switching between magenta fluorescence and green phosphorescence was easily achieved by simply switching on/off the ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Potential utility of dual-emitting AuNCs/CDs@SiO2 as novel dynamic anti-counterfeiting materials has been successfully demonstrated, including anti-counterfeiting ink, ink-free optical printing film, and information encryption. The present aqueous-phase fluorescence-phosphorescence dual-emission system exhibits two types of anti-counterfeiting mode without introducing external stimulus, increasing the difficulty of imitation and duplication. This work provides a straightforward and generable strategy to design advanced optical anti-counterfeiting materials by combining phosphorescent materials with other fluorophores via reasonable engineering strategy.}
}