{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T04:58:46Z","timestamp":1785560326863,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785369600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["22178149"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22178149"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["22478166"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22478166"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["22178149"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22178149"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["22478166"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22478166"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2023M731360"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023M731360"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["2023M731360"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023M731360"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0426zh255","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"National College Students\u2019 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program","award":["X2025102990493"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["X2025102990493"]}]},{"name":"National College Students\u2019 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program","award":["X2025102990740"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["X2025102990740"]}]},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Advanced Electrode Materials for Novel Solar Cells for Petroleum and Chemical Industry of China","award":["2024A066"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024A066"]}]},{"name":"Youth Talent Training Program of Jiangsu University"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03jc41j30","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Gels"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Silica aerogel films are highly promising matrices for advanced optical applications, yet balancing ultra-high transmittance with structural stability during functionalization remains a critical challenge. Directly incorporating organic dyes often leads to aggregation and severe photodegradation, necessitating a robust host\u2013guest encapsulation strategy. Herein, we report the fabrication of ultra-transparent, fluorescent silica aerogel films via precisely tailored acid\/base two-step sol\u2013gel kinetics and dip-coating. The optimized pure silica matrix achieves a peak visible transmittance of 97.4% and sub-nanometer surface smoothness (RMS = 276.7 pm). By utilizing this pristine network, Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) and Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes were effectively confined within the amorphous mesoporous pores. Notably, RhB exhibited superior matrix integration, indicated by an H4 hysteresis loop transition and a significantly reduced pore volume (0.019 cm3\/g). This mesoporous confinement successfully suppressed dye quenching, prolonging the fluorescence lifetimes to 5.22 ns and 5.36 ns for Rh6G and RhB, respectively. Crucially, we elucidate that the electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions between the silica pore walls and the dye\u2019s xanthene rings elevate the excited-state energy, inducing a distinct matrix-driven emission blue shift. This work provides a scalable pathway for high-performance optical coatings and offers deep insights into host\u2013guest interfacial coupling in gel networks.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/gels12080676","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:32:13Z","timestamp":1785403933000},"page":"676","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Mesoporous Confinement of Fluorescent Dyes in Ultra-Transparent Silica Aerogel Films via Tailored Sol\u2013Gel Kinetics"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Zhizhong","family":"Qin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Lily Group Co., Ltd., No. 1768, Jingwu Road, Qiantang District, Hangzhou 311200, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuntao","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, Public Experiment and Service Center, Jiangsu University, Xuefu Road 301, Zhenjiang 212013, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guifeng","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lily Group Co., Ltd., No. 1768, Jingwu Road, Qiantang District, Hangzhou 311200, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fengyu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, Public Experiment and Service Center, Jiangsu University, Xuefu Road 301, Zhenjiang 212013, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pengchao","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lily Group Co., Ltd., No. 1768, Jingwu Road, Qiantang District, Hangzhou 311200, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xihao","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, Public Experiment and Service Center, Jiangsu University, Xuefu Road 301, Zhenjiang 212013, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yong","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Lily Group Co., Ltd., No. 1768, Jingwu Road, Qiantang District, Hangzhou 311200, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jialu","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Special Artificial Microstructure and Technology, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Siping Road 1239, Shanghai 200092, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6604-2241","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wei","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, Public Experiment and Service Center, Jiangsu University, Xuefu Road 301, Zhenjiang 212013, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"439","DOI":"10.1038\/374439a0","article-title":"Silica aerogel films prepared at ambient pressure by using surface derivatization to induce reversible drying shrinkage","volume":"374","author":"Prakash","year":"1995","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139722","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2023.139722","article-title":"High average power optical properties of silica aerogel thin film","volume":"768","author":"Lin","year":"2023","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2300441","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.202300441","article-title":"Optical design of silica aerogels for on-demand thermal management","volume":"33","author":"Wang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1007\/s10971-021-05601-2","article-title":"Micro to mesoporous SiO2 xerogels: The effect of acid catalyst type in sol\u2013gel process","volume":"102","author":"Morales","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1007\/s10971-025-07088-7","article-title":"Advances in eco-efficient and accelerated sol\u2013gel routes for hybrid nanostructures","volume":"117","author":"Mustapha","year":"2026","journal-title":"J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104427","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jfca.2022.104427","article-title":"Mesoporous silica-based molecularly imprinted fluorescence sensor for the ultrafast and sensitive recognition of oxytetracycline","volume":"108","author":"Xu","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Food Compos. Anal."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1961","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.macromol.0c02598","article-title":"Silica-based aerogels with tunable properties: The highly efficient BF3-catalyzed preparation and look inside their structure","volume":"54","author":"Kholodkov","year":"2021","journal-title":"Macromolecules"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1387","DOI":"10.1007\/s10934-021-01091-3","article-title":"Silica aerogels: A review of synthesis, applications and fabrication of hybrid composites","volume":"28","author":"Akhter","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Porous Mater."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"952","DOI":"10.1002\/ceat.202300465","article-title":"Fluorescent composite nano- and microparticles based on xanthene dyes and iron oxides","volume":"47","author":"Muradova","year":"2024","journal-title":"Chem. Eng. Technol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijleo.2008.05.005","article-title":"Spectroscopic and lasing properties of xanthene dyes encapsulated in silica and polymeric matrices","volume":"121","author":"Sharma","year":"2010","journal-title":"Optik"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"126666","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodchem.2020.126666","article-title":"Graphene-like BN@SiO2 nanocomposites as efficient sorbents for solid-phase extraction of rhodamine B and rhodamine 6G from food samples","volume":"320","author":"Chao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10994","DOI":"10.1039\/D4NR00800F","article-title":"Ultrabright fluorescent particles via physical encapsulation of fluorescent dyes in mesoporous silica: A mini-review","volume":"16","author":"Sokolov","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nanoscale"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3820","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.chemrev.1c00793","article-title":"Recent progress and future prospects on all-organic polymer dielectrics for energy storage capacitors","volume":"122","author":"Feng","year":"2022","journal-title":"Chem. Rev."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1974","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chempr.2024.04.011","article-title":"Chemical insights into the interfacial phenomena of low-dimensional heterointerfaces","volume":"10","author":"He","year":"2024","journal-title":"Chem"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1002","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tifs.2021.08.022","article-title":"Metal organic framework based fluorescence sensor for detection of antibiotics","volume":"116","author":"Marimuthu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Trends Food Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113075","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compositesb.2025.113075","article-title":"Multifunctional metamaterials based on MXene composite aerogels for integrated load-bearing and multiphysics wave attenuation","volume":"309","author":"Zhang","year":"2026","journal-title":"Compos. Part B Eng."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shange, M.G., Khumalo, N.L., Mohomane, S.M., and Motaung, T.E. (2024). Factors affecting silica\/cellulose nanocomposite prepared via the sol\u2013gel technique: A review. Materials, 17.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma17091937"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.15251\/JOR.2021.172.175","article-title":"Effect of oxalic acid as a catalyst and dry control chemical additive (DCCA) for hydrophilic aerogel base sodium silicate by ambient pressure drying","volume":"17","author":"Abdulmajeed","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Ovonic Res."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"154942","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsusc.2022.154942","article-title":"NH2-SiO2-C3H7 with abundant surface groups exposure as the efficient catalyst for the aldol condensation reaction","volume":"607","author":"Ye","year":"2023","journal-title":"Appl. Surf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4926","DOI":"10.1021\/acsapm.5c04134","article-title":"Underwater adhesives enabled by interfacial water activation through solvent exchange and in situ silane hydrolysis cross-linking","volume":"8","author":"Xi","year":"2026","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Polym. Mater."},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"6109770","article-title":"Sol\u2013gel synthesis of nanostructured mesoporous silica powder and thin films","volume":"1","author":"Emrie","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Nanomater."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"126300","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodchem.2020.126300","article-title":"Mesoporous silica supported orderly-spaced gold nanoparticles SERS-based sensor for pesticides detection in food","volume":"315","author":"Xu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135182","DOI":"10.1016\/j.colsurfa.2024.135182","article-title":"Preparation of fully physically crosslinked double-network gel and its fire prevention mechanism","volume":"702","author":"Tian","year":"2024","journal-title":"Colloids Surf. A"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e57605","DOI":"10.1002\/app.57605","article-title":"Nano-SiO2\/PVC composite material: A review on modification, preparation, properties, and applications","volume":"142","author":"Zhou","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Appl. Polym. Sci."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136712","DOI":"10.1016\/j.colsurfa.2025.136712","article-title":"First-principles modeling and optimization of the dip-coating process for starch-glycerol edible films using viscosity measurements","volume":"716","author":"Grazi","year":"2025","journal-title":"Colloids Surf. A"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127662","DOI":"10.1016\/j.applthermaleng.2025.127662","article-title":"Coupled modeling of solvent evaporation and thin film evolution in spin coating","volume":"279","author":"Zhou","year":"2025","journal-title":"Appl. Therm. Eng."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dai, L., Luo, D., Li, C., and Chen, Y. (2025). Recent advances in the application technologies of surface coatings for fruits. Foods, 14.","DOI":"10.3390\/foods14142471"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2304506","DOI":"10.1002\/advs.202304506","article-title":"Functional PDMS elastomers: Bulk composites, surface engineering, and precision fabrication","volume":"10","author":"Li","year":"2023","journal-title":"Adv. Sci."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"178","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiec.2025.10.056","article-title":"Tailored siloxane-based protective coatings for flexible tactile sensors with enhanced wear resistance and compliance","volume":"158","author":"Choi","year":"2026","journal-title":"J. Ind. Eng. Chem."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18901","DOI":"10.1039\/D4TA02586E","article-title":"Recent advances in gel coatings: From lab to industry","volume":"12","author":"Zhang","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Mater. Chem. A"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1016\/j.micromeso.2018.07.049","article-title":"Optically active-thermally stable multi-dyes encapsulated mesoporous silica aerogel: A potential pH sensing nanomatrix","volume":"274","author":"Islam","year":"2019","journal-title":"Microporous Mesoporous Mater."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7404","DOI":"10.1039\/D5SC09456A","article-title":"From light loss to light harvesting: Anti-reflective coatings bridging optics, materials, and performance in perovskite solar cells","volume":"17","author":"Rani","year":"2026","journal-title":"Chem. Sci."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"176303","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cej.2026.176303","article-title":"Topological constraint-enabled high-temperature creep resistance and mechanical robustness in organic-inorganic IPN-like PMI aerogels","volume":"537","author":"Lai","year":"2026","journal-title":"Chem. Eng. J."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138510","DOI":"10.1016\/j.seppur.2026.138510","article-title":"Facile synthesis of superflexible hierarchical methyltriethoxysilane-based silica aerogel monoliths reinforced with electrospun nanofibers for efficient oil\/water separation and demulsification","volume":"401","author":"Zhang","year":"2026","journal-title":"Sep. Purif. Technol."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1337","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.chemmater.5c00114","article-title":"Quantification of pore connectivity in hierarchically porous carbon by percolation effect integrated differential hysteresis scanning","volume":"37","author":"Wang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Chem. Mater."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S212","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2009.10.091","article-title":"Multiple energy transfer in porous silicon\/Rh6G\/RhB nanocomposite evidenced by photoluminescence and its polarization memory","volume":"518","author":"Chouket","year":"2010","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"ref_37","first-page":"828","article-title":"Synthesis and spectral characteristics of RhB and Rh6G dyes and their mixture in solid matrix","volume":"60","author":"Khan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Indian J. Pure Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e121","DOI":"10.1002\/agt2.121","article-title":"Frontier luminous strategy of functional silica nanohybrids in sensing and bioimaging: From ACQ to AIE","volume":"3","author":"Xu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Aggregate"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17769","DOI":"10.1039\/D3CP02364H","article-title":"Organic compounds for solid state luminescence enhancement\/aggregation induced emission: A theoretical perspective","volume":"25","author":"Turelli","year":"2023","journal-title":"Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys."},{"key":"ref_40","first-page":"17653","article-title":"Observation of intensity redistribution of emission peaks in anthracene: Dynamics of vibronic excimer formation in a xerogel matrix","volume":"129","author":"Doley","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Phys. Chem. C"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e202200280","DOI":"10.1002\/cphc.202200280","article-title":"Photoluminescent silica nanostructures and nanohybrids","volume":"23","author":"Gogoi","year":"2022","journal-title":"ChemPhysChem"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2200245","DOI":"10.1002\/admi.202200245","article-title":"The structure of water in silica mesopores\u2014Influence of the pore wall polarity","volume":"9","author":"Weinberger","year":"2022","journal-title":"Adv. Mater. Interfaces"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11659","DOI":"10.1039\/D5CS00909J","article-title":"Hydrogen-bonded \u03c0-conjugated supramolecular polymers","volume":"54","author":"Ximenis","year":"2025","journal-title":"Chem. Soc. Rev."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1791","DOI":"10.1007\/s11224-025-02635-y","article-title":"Electrostatic potential landscapes: A topographical perspective on aromaticity, electron delocalization, and localization","volume":"37","author":"Suresh","year":"2026","journal-title":"Struct. Chem."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"013246","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevResearch.7.013246","article-title":"Universal gate set for optical lattice based atom interferometry","volume":"7","author":"LeDesma","year":"2025","journal-title":"Phys. Rev. Res."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"717","DOI":"10.1002\/cjoc.70354","article-title":"Exploration of two-photon\/multi-photon excited luminescence in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)","volume":"44","author":"Wang","year":"2026","journal-title":"Chin. J. Chem."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113628","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dyepig.2026.113628","article-title":"Zirconium metal-organic cage integrated with fluorescein sodium: A dye-functionalized dual-emission platform for ratiometric sensing of sunset yellow","volume":"249","author":"Li","year":"2026","journal-title":"Dyes Pigments"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136264","DOI":"10.1016\/j.snb.2024.136264","article-title":"Construction of a dual colorimetric fluorescent imprinting polymer hybrid system for the detection of alpha-fetoprotein based on the multi-FRET effect and modeling of its color response mechanism","volume":"418","author":"Xiao","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sens. Actuators B Chem."}],"container-title":["Gels"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2310-2861\/12\/8\/676\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T04:25:48Z","timestamp":1785558348000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2310-2861\/12\/8\/676"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]]},"references-count":48,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]}},"alternative-id":["gels12080676"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/gels12080676","relation":{},"ISSN":["2310-2861"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2310-2861","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]]}}}