Solid Materials with Tunable Reverse Photochromism.

Herein, we report a novel, straightforward, and universal strategy to achieve solid materials with highly tunable reverse photochromism. This was accomplished by means of commercially available spiropyran dyes, which can produce different types of stable merocyanine states (i.e., nonprotonated and protonated forms) displaying distinct reverse photochromic properties (i.e., colors and coloration rates). To finely control the concentration ratio of these species and, as such, tailor the optical performance of the photochromes, we exploited their differential interaction with surrounding media of distinctive nature (i.e., nonvolatile protic and aprotic polar solvents). In this way, solutions displaying different photochromic responses were prepared for individual spiropyrans without requiring chemical derivatization, an approach that can be generalized to other spiro dyes with distinct acid-base properties. To transfer this behavior to the solid state, core-shell capsules of these solutions were prepared, which were then used as ink materials for the fabrication of flexible polymeric films with unprecedented tunability of their photochromic properties that can be employed as rewritable multicolored devices.

Temperature-Controlled Switchable Photochromism in Solid Materials.

A novel strategy to achieve thermally switchable photochromism in solid materials is reported, which relies on the preparation of polymeric core-shell capsules containing solutions of photochromic dyes in acidic phase-change materials. Upon changing the phase (solid or liquid) of the encapsulated medium, one of the two photochromic states of the system is selectively stabilized on demand, allowing for reversible interconversion between direct and reverse photochromism when thermally scanning through the melting temperature of the phase-change material. This strategy, which does not require the addition of external agents or chemical modification of the dyes, proved to be general for different spiropyran photochromes and to be applicable to the fabrication of a variety of functional materials by simply embedding the capsules obtained into a solid matrix of choice.