Citation: Xiaojian Yan, Saijin Huang, Wenfeng Liu, Li-Li Tan, Gaobin Wang, Liping Cao, Li Shang. Tungsten oxide quantum dot-based supramolecular assembly with tunable photochromic kinetics towards time-encoded anti-counterfeiting[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(3): 111427. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111427 shu

Tungsten oxide quantum dot-based supramolecular assembly with tunable photochromic kinetics towards time-encoded anti-counterfeiting

Xiaojian Yan ^{a, b} ,
Saijin Huang ^b ,
Wenfeng Liu ^b ,
Li-Li Tan ^b ,
Gaobin Wang ^c ,
Liping Cao ^d ,
Li Shang ^{a, b, *,}

a.
Shenzhen Research Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University, Shenzhen 518057, China
b.
State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
c.
Queen Mary University of London Engineering School, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
d.
Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, China

li.shang@nwpu.edu.cn

Received Date: 28 March 2025
Revised Date: 15 May 2025
Accepted Date: 6 June 2025
Available Online: 7 June 2025

Figures(7)

The development of advanced anti-counterfeiting technology using photochromic inorganic materials with dynamic optical signals has garnered significant interest, but the limited color response and un-controlled photochromic kinetics largely restrict their practical application. In this work, we report the design of photochromic supramolecular assembly based on host-guest chemistry, enabling kinetics-tunable time-encoded anti-counterfeiting. By co-assembling of photochromic tungsten oxide quantum dots (WO₃ QDs) with cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]), we developed a kinetics-tunable photochromic supramolecular assembly (WO₃CB[7]). The WO₃CB[7] assembly exhibits distinct photochromic kinetics compared to free WO₃ QDs due to efficient suppression of photogenerated decomposition of water adsorbed on WO₃ QDs, as verified by spectral and photophysical analysis. The photochromic kinetics can be readily modulated by adjusting the WO₃ QDs to CB[7] ratio. The kinetics-tunable photochromic WO₃CB[7] assembly has been successfully applied as innovative anti-counterfeiting materials for fabricating time-encoded anti-counterfeiting arrays and information encryption system. The irradiation time serves as a key parameter for decrypting the final information, thereby enhancing the complexity of replication and counterfeiting. This approach offers a simple, scalable and generalizable strategy for designing advanced optical anti-counterfeiting materials by integrating inorganic photochromic materials with the supramolecular strategy.
- Tungsten oxide quantum dots,
- Anti-counterfeiting,
- Photochromic kinetics,
- Supramolecular assembly
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