Construction and Emission Tuning of the One-Dimensional (MBI)CdCl(4)·H(2)O toward Anti-Counterfeiting and Information Encryption.

Organic-inorganic hybrid metal halides (OIHMHs) have attracted considerable attention because of their superior optoelectronic properties and structural versatility, yet one-dimensional (1D) OIHMHs remain the least studied relative to their 0D, 2D, and 3D counterparts. Here, a new 1D blue-emitting hybrid cadmium chloride phosphor, (MBI)CdCl·HO, was constructed using 2-methylbenzimidazole (MBI) as the organic ligand. It crystallizes in the monoclinic 2/c space group, consisting of distorted [CdCl] octahedra connected via edge sharing. Incorporation of Sb ions with stereochemically active 5s lone-pair electrons yields (MBI)CdSbCl·HO, which exhibits highly efficient yellow emission with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 92.0%. In addition, doping with high-spin Mn ions produces photoluminescent (MBI)CdMnCl·HO crystals with a PLQY of 16.7%. Leveraging the tunable luminescence of this Cd halide, these materials were further demonstrated in anticounterfeiting and information encryption applications, highlighting a promising avenue for the development of functional metal halides.