Photothermal materials, especially photothermal plastics, are crucial building blocks for functional devices. Covalently immobilizing the photothermal carbon dots in plastic matrix is a promising method for producing efficient photothermal plastics. However, the reactive moieties of photothermal carbon dots are often destroyed because of harsh preparation conditions, preventing their covalent interaction with plastic matrix. Here, we conceptualized carbon dots with photocaged reactivity (P-CDs) for producing ultra-stable photothermal plastics. During the formation of P-CDs, hydroxyl moieties were maintained in the preparation environment. Upon UV irradiation, hydroxyl moieties of P-CDs were in situ converted into aldehyde groups and reacted with amino groups in the polysaccharide matrix, producing P-CD plastics. As-obtained P-CD plastics showed strong stability against solution immersion and UV aging. In particular, the P-CD plastics showed a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 46.6%. Such efficient and robust photothermal P-CD plastics were further applied to prepare a solar-driven thermoelectric generator (TEG) for energy generation.

光热材料，尤其是光热塑料，是功能器件的重要组成部分。将光热碳点共价固定在塑料基质中是一种生产高效光热塑料的有前景的方法。然而，由于苛刻的制备条件，光热碳点的活性部分经常被破坏，从而阻止了它们与塑料基质的共价相互作用。在这里，我们将具有光笼反应性 (P-CD) 的碳点概念化，用于生产超稳定的光热塑料。在 P-CDs 的形成过程中，羟基部分保留在制备环境中。在紫外线照射下，P-CDs 的羟基部分原位转化为醛基并与多糖基质中的氨基反应，产生 P-CD 塑料。所获得的 P-CD 塑料对溶液浸泡和紫外线老化具有很强的稳定性。特别是 P-CD 塑料的光热转换效率高达 46.6%。这种高效且坚固的光热 P-CD 塑料被进一步应用于制备太阳能驱动的热电发电机 (TEG) 以产生能量。