Self-recoverable multicolor mechanoluminescence in LaBO3-based composites toward self-powered optical platforms and multimode anticounterfeiting

Flexible mechanoluminescent (ML) composite elastomers hold great promise for intelligent health monitoring, safety warning, and human-machine interaction. Yet, their practical adoption is hampered by the prevalent reliance of most current materials on pre-irradiation sources such as ultraviolet light or X-rays, which fundamentally limits operational convenience. Herein, we leverage the outstanding ion-incorporation capacity of borates to develop a new class of high-performance ML materials that require no pre-irradiation. Flexible composite films based on LaBO 3 :Re 3+ Re = Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Tm) display stimulus-responsive ML across the visible spectrum (400–800 nm) under diverse mechanical stimuli. Crucially, the films based on LaBO 3 :Tb 3+ exhibit good cyclic stability and a self-recovering ML property, where the intensity recovers to 88.7% of its original intensity after 12 h. Mechanistic investigations attribute the ML emission to electron bombardment on activator ions, induced by interfacial triboelectric effects. The practical viability potential of this material system further demonstrates by fabricating self-powered light source of bicycle sharing and multimodal anticounterfeiting devices. These findings confirm borates as suitable carriers for high-performance ML and offer a novel material platform for designing intelligent optical devices.