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Highly Stretchable Eu3+ - Doped PEBAX Elastomers With Complementary Optical Readouts of Strain and Temperature

delete2026-08-10
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PRE
AI
P
Pamela C. Silva
A
Ana R. N. Bastos
S
Sandra F. H. Correia
P
Paulo André
L
Luís D. Carlos
R
R.A.G. Silva
F
Fernanda F. Camilo
R
Rute A. S. Ferreira *
C
Celso Molina *
DOI:10.1002/adom.71573delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Soft photonic materials capable of maintaining optical functionality under large mechanical deformation are highly desirable for wearable photonics, flexible sensors, optical and mechanically adaptive photonic systems. Here, we report highly stretchable luminescent elastomers based on the thermoplastic copolymer PEBAX 2533 incorporating a europium β-diketonate complex. The transparent films combine intense europium emission with exceptional mechanical flexibility, displaying elongation at break exceeding 1200%, while maintaining high optical transparency in the visible range. The elastomers exhibit intense red luminescence with absolute quantum yields of 0.61. Under mechanical deformation, the 5D0 → 7F0 transition shows a strain-dependent spectral shift and intensity modulation, enabling optical strain readout with sensitivities of –1.6 ± 0.2 cm−1·ε−1 and −0.44 ± 0.04 ε−1, respectively. The luminescence spectra also display a thermal dependence, characterized by a blue shift and intensity decrease of the Eu3+ emission with a temperature sensitivity of 0.08 ± 0.01 cm−1·°C−1 over the investigated temperature range. The coexistence of large deformability, high transparency, efficient Eu3+ emission, and two independently calibrated optical responses establishes Eu-doped elastomers as a versatile soft photonic platform for multimodal optical transduction, highlighting their potential for flexible sensing technologies in which mechanical and thermal perturbations are optically encoded within the same material platform.
Keywords:
europium complexes
luminescent elastomers
optical sensing
soft photonic materials
strain and temperature sensing

Journal

Advanced Optical Materials cover
Advanced Optical Materials
IF:
7.2
Papers:
8.6K
Citations:
4.6W

Organization

U
Universidade de Lisboa
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2.7K
Papers: 1.2K
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U
University of Aveiro
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Papers: 672
Citations: 1.7W
F
federal university of sao paulo
Scholars:
444
Papers: 193
Citations: 0
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