A variety of mechanoluminescent (ML) materials have recently reinvigorated studies of luminescence activated by mechanical stress, but few practical applications have been demonstrated due to the destructive nature of the process. To overcome these shortcomings, elastico-mechanoluminescent (elastico-ML) materials, which generate luminescence under elastic deformation, have been suggested with a view to their use in practical devices. However, the weak brightness and limited white colour expression of these materials must be resolved before they can be employed in practical applications. Here, we report a wind-driven ML device that produces significant brightness and emits warm/neutral/cool white light over a range of colour temperatures from zinc sulphide (ZnS) microscopic particles embedded in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite. Harnessing wind-activated mechanoluminescent devices in practical displays or lighting systems could pave the way to new environmentally friendly lights, which reduce energy waste and promote sustainability. Broader context Mechanically driven light generation is an exciting and under-exploited phenomenon with a variety of possible practical applications. Mechanoluminescence (ML) has potential applications in colourful displays and white-light sources driven by vibrating mechanical actions. However, the related research has suffered from the difficulty in obtaining a strong, repeatable signal, so enhancing ML intensity has not been a major area of focus. Weak brightness and limited white colour expression of ML must be resolved with a view to its use in practical ML displays or ML light sources. Here we report a new wind-driven ML device that produces signicant brightness and emits light over a range of tunable white colours. A patterned, colourful ML driven by wind was also demonstrated. Harnessing wind-driven ML in practical lighting systems could pave the way to new environmentally friendly lights based on wind motion, to cut down energy waste and promote sustainability.

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Summary: In this work, silver nanoparticles were embedded in electrospun organic/inorganic composite nanofibers consisting of PAN and TiO2 through photocatalytic reduction of the silver ions in silver nitrate solutions under UV irradiation. The morphology and diameter of PAN/TiO2 composite nanofibers could be controlled by varying the initial contents of TiO2 in the spinning solution. From TEM images and UV‐Vis spectra, it has been confirmed that monodisperse silver nanoparticles with a diameter of ≈2 nm were deposited selectively upon the titania of the as prepared composite nanofibers. The amount of Ag nanoparticles embedded on composite nanofibers was greatly influenced by the amount of TiO2 in composite nanofibers, reflecting the role of titania as the inorganic stabilizer and photocatalyst.Morphology of silver nanoparticles embedded on PAN/TiO2 composite nanofibers.magnified imageMorphology of silver nanoparticles embedded on PAN/TiO2 composite nanofibers.