Tuning mechanoluminescence colors from aromatic imides with dyes

Aromatic imides are an important class of organic mechanoluminescence (ML) compounds. Color is one of the most important ML properties, and it was previously modified by preparing various aromatic imide derivatives using chemical synthesis. In this report, we present a simple alternative strategy where a single aromatic imide is solution-mixed and crystallized with commercial organic dyes to produce mixtures that exhibit new ML colors. Specifically, using an aromatic imide with blue ML in its pure form, the ML could be changed to pink, yellow, or a weak white color using Eosin Y, Fluorescein, or Acridine Orange, respectively. The resulting mixtures could also be incorporated into waste polystyrene plastic to make composite materials with ML behavior.