Organic near-infrared room temperature phosphorescence materials have unparalleled advantages in bioimaging due to their excellent penetrability. However, limited by the energy gap law, the near-infrared phosphorescence materials (>650 nm) are very rare, moreover, the phosphorescence lifetimes of these materials are very short. In this work, we have obtained organic room temperature phosphorescence materials with long wavelengths (600/657–681/732 nm) and long lifetimes (102–324 ms) for the first time through the guest-host doped strategy. The guest molecule has sufficient conjugation to reduce the lowest triplet energy level and the host assists the guest in exciton transfer and inhibits the non-radiative transition of guest excitons. These materials exhibit good tissue penetration in bioimaging. Thanks to the characteristic of long lifetime and long wavelength emissive phosphorescence materials, the tumor imaging in living mice with a signal to background ratio value as high as 43 is successfully realized. This work provides a practical solution for the construction of organic phosphorescence materials with both long wavelengths and long lifetimes.

The research on advanced functional polymers is being driven by the fast-growing demand for new functional materials that can be used in revolutionary technologies. Polymers can be endowed with functions by using certain special preparation methods or by introducing functional groups or fillers into materials. These functions are either intrinsically possessed by materials or actuated by external stimuli. In this review, we present an overview of the recent developments made in the research hotspots of functional polymers, encompassing polymerization methodologies, luminescent polymers, photovoltaic polymers, other electronic and optical polymers (including low-k polyimides and second-order nonlinear optical polymers), biorelated polymers (particularly those for biomedical applications), supramolecular polymers, stimuli-responsive polymers, shape-memory polymers, separation polymer membranes, energy storage polymers, and covalent organic framework polymers. The concepts, design strategies at the molecular level, preparation methods, classifications, properties, potential applications, and recent progress made in such polymers are summarized. Challenges and future perspectives of each type of functional polymers are also addressed, including research efforts regarding the design and fabrication of functional polymers for serving the increasing demand for new materials.