Multimodal Stimuli-Responsive Anti-Counterfeiting Platform Based on Polymer-Stabilized Cholesteric Liquid Crystals and Cs 0.32 WO 3 Nanoparticles

The integration of structural color, infrared imaging, and electrically tunable properties into anticounterfeiting materials would markedly advance security performance. However, fabricating such multifunctional systems remains challenging. The study presents a strategy utilizing PMMA-based chiral molecular diffusion at the microscale to achieve intelligently tunable patterns for security labels. To further advance anticounterfeiting performance, infrared-shielding Cs 0.32 WO 3 nanoparticles were incorporated, enabling multimodal stimulus-responsive authentication. The resulting material exhibits reversible switching among structural color, infrared signals, and electrically modulated states. In addition, the encrypted content can be reversibly appeared and hidden under various external stimuli, including applied voltage, mechanical pressure, elevated temperature, and near-infrared light exposure. The work aims to establish a straightforward approach for fabricating complex structural-color patterns while significantly elevating anticounterfeiting capabilities. A highly secure multimodal anticounterfeiting platform has been developed by integrating chiral-doped liquid crystals with infrared-shielding nanoparticles and patterning techniques. The advanced system, capable of outputting multistate encrypted information, demonstrates considerable potential for substantially elevating anticounterfeiting standards.