Stepwise Crystalline Structural Transformation in 0D Hybrid Antimony Halides with Triplet Turn-on and Color-Adjustable Luminescence Switching

Intelligent stimuli-responsive fluorescence materials are extremely pivotal for fabricating luminescent turn-on switching in solid-state photonic integration technology, but it remains a challenging objective for typical 3-dimensional (3D) perovskite nanocrystals. Herein, by fine-tuning the accumulation modes of metal halide components to dynamically control the carrier characteristics, a novel triple-mode photoluminescence (PL) switching was realized in 0D metal halide through stepwise single-crystal to single-crystal (SC-SC) transformation. Specifically, a family of 0D hybrid antimony halides was designed to exhibit three distinct types of PL performance including nonluminescent [Ph(3)EtP](2)Sb(2)Cl(8) (1), yellow-emissive [Ph(3)EtP](2)SbCl(5)·EtOH (2), and red-emissive [Ph(3)EtP](2)SbCl(5) (3). Upon stimulus of ethanol, 1 was successfully converted to 2 through SC-SC transformation with enhanced PL quantum yield from ~0% to 91.50% acting as “turn-on” luminescent switching. Meanwhile, reversible SC-SC and luminescence transformation between 2 and 3 can be also achieved in the ethanol impregnation–heating process as luminescence vapochromism switching. As a consequence, a new triple-model turn-on and color-adjustable luminescent switching of off–on(I)–on(II) was realized in 0D hybrid halides. Simultaneously, wide advanced applications were also achieved in anti-counterfeiting, information security, and optical logic gates. This novel photon engineering strategy is expected to deepen the understanding of dynamic PL switching mechanism and guide development of new smart luminescence materials in cutting-edge optical switchable device.