Multicolor Anti-counterfeiting Strategy and Synchronous High Capacity Storage Based on Acidochromic Organic Fluorescent Materials

Abstract

Many industries are plagued by economic losses and product failures caused by counterfeit goods. Therefore, advanced anti-counterfeiting techniques are continuously needed. In this study, we constructed a series of acid-base sensitive cyclic chalcone dyes A– F by modifying different electron-donating groups. Differences in acid sensitivity of different structures are well rationalised by NMR and theoretical calculations. Aniline is difficult to protonate than fatty amines, so there is a difference in fluorescence. Hiding and anti-counterfeiting of information is achieved by this phenomenon. Powder X and Y are the anti-counterfeit fluorescent powder containing montmorillonite and cyclic chalcone, which have orange fluorescence and the very similar appearance. However, under the influence of acid the Powder X containing triphenylamine modified cyclic chalcone shows red shifted fluorescence and Powder Y containing morpholino and diethylamino groups modified cyclic chalcone shows blue shifted fluorescence. Therefore, the anti-counterfeiting strategy based on cyclic chalcone is not only limited to UV-irradiated fluorescence development, but also has more colorization and pattern variations with the aid of acid developer. Data encryption and decryption of numbers, English alphabets and Chinese characters have been realized using A– F, which have great potential for practical applications.

Keywords

Cyclic chalcones / Anti-counterfeiting / Encryption / Acid sensitivity / Organic fluorescent dye

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2024 SIOC, CAS, Shanghai, & WILEY-VCH GmbH