Hydrochromic molecular switches for water-jet rewritable paper

Sheng, Lan; Li, Minjie; Zhu, Shaoyin; Li, Hao; Xi, Guannan; Li, Yonggang; Wang, Yi; Li, Quanshun; Liang, Siwei; Zhong, Ke Jun; Zhang, Sean Xiao‐An

doi:10.1038/ncomms4044

Cited by 226 publications

(229 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Throughout the 20 cycles, the TiO 2 /MB/HEC solid film remained essentially unchanged without the formation of any cracks or aggregations. It is worth noting that rewriting cycle number of 20 already represents a big step forward comparing with the existing systems 24 . We also want to point out that our systems can still operate for many more cycles beyond 20 times, although it is expected that their performance will eventually decay due to the consumption of the SED molecules.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, only limited progresses have been made in this area because of some major challenges [20][21][22] : (i) colour switching often becomes much slower when dyes are present in solid media instead of solution, as their molecular mobility is markedly restricted 23 , (ii) many switchable dyes retain their colour for only several hours under ambient conditions, which is too short for reading, (iii) the toxicity of switchable dyes is often an issue for daily use and (iv) most switchable dyes involve complex synthesis and are therefore expensive. As a result, it is of high interest to develop rewritable papers based on new colour switching mechanisms 24,25 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Photocatalytic colour switching of redox dyes for ink-free light-printable rewritable paper

et al. 2014

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The invention of paper as writing materials has greatly contributed to the development and spread of civilization. However, its large-scale production and usage have also brought significant environment and sustainability problems to modern society. To reduce paper production and consumption, it is highly desirable to develop alternative rewritable media that can be used multiple times. Herein we report the fabrication of a rewritable paper based on colour switching of commercial redox dyes using titanium oxide-assisted photocatalytic reactions. The resulting paper does not require additional inks and can be efficiently printed using ultraviolet light and erased by heating over 20 cycles without significant loss in contrast and resolution. The legibility of prints can retain over several days. We believe this rewritable paper represents an attractive alternative to regular paper in meeting the increasing global needs for sustainability and environmental protection.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Photocatalytic colour switching of redox dyes for ink-free light-printable rewritable paper

et al. 2014

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“…Previous parallel research by our group assures us that the microenvironment in solution can be imitated in thin film. 36 These results encouraged us to explore whether we could freely tune the microenvironment effect of TM1 to produce variable colors in a thin-film device. To simulate the situation of ethanol in DMF, we used a mixture of PC and diglycol as additives for tuning the property of the medium.…”

Section: Design and Synthesis Of The Switchable Moleculementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For high-resolution multicolor displays, mono-layered pixilated devices are a better choice in practice; however, the manual construction is challenging in a lesser-equipped lab. We can employ a recently demonstrated high-resolution digital printing technology 36,39 to complete the pixilated medium engineering tasks and related highresolution multicolor device. Regarding the multi-layered stacked-electrode strategy demonstrated here, its immediate applications may be suitable for medium-or low-resolution multicolor applications, such as a smart window or a large electronic billboard.…”

Section: Design and Synthesis Of The Switchable Moleculementioning

confidence: 99%

A single-molecule multicolor electrochromic device generated through medium engineering

et al. 2015

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Multicolor organic electrochromic materials are important for the generation of full-color devices. However, achieving multiple colors using a single-molecule material has proved challenging. In this study, a multicolor electrochromic prototype device is generated by integrating medium engineering/in situ 'electro base'/laminated electrode technologies with the simple flying fish-shaped methyl ketone TM1. This multicolor electrochromic (green, blue and magenta) device is durable and has a high coloration efficiency (350 cm 2 C 21 ), a fast switching time (50 ms) and superior reversibility. This study is a successful attempt to integrate solvatochromism and basochromism in an electronic display. This integration not only introduces a new avenue for color tuning, in addition to the structural design of the colorant, but will also inspire further developments in the tuning of many other properties by this medium engineering approach, such as conductance and the redox property, and thereby accelerate versatile applications in data recording, ultrathin flexible displays, and optical communication and sensing. Keywords: electrochromic materials; laminated electrodes; microenvironment; multicolor devices; solvatochromic materials INTRODUCTION Owing to the increasing demand for low-power, ultrathin, flexible electronic displays, organic electrochromic materials 1-3 have become a research focus because of their distinct merits: low weight, high contrast, wide viewing angle, flexibility and the potential for low power consumption. Because the realization of a multicolor switch is preferred in the majority of their applications in displays, 4-10 various electrochromic materials including polymers, 11,12 small organic molecules 13,14 and metal-organic complexes, 15 and technologies aimed at multicolor switches have been intensively explored. Transition metals based on metal-organic complex multicolor electrochromic materials exhibit attractive properties, such as high stability and chemiluminescence. 16 However, the expense and scarcity of the precious metals, such as ruthenium, 15,16 osmium 17 and iridium, 18 limit their practical applications. Polymeric multicolor electrochromic materials with different electrochromic activation units [19][20][21] possess the advantages of easy processing, diverse resources and facile color tunability. However, some intrinsic problems, such as the lack of colorless states, poor transparency, poor color purity and complicated synthesis procedures, hinder their applications. Compared with electrochromic polymers, small organic color switches possess the advantages of low cost, good color purity, distinct transition from colorless to colored states and fine tunability of their photoelectronic properties via easy structure modifications. The lack of multicolor abilities is their intrinsic

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“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Photochoromic materials undergo a reversible photo-induced change of a molecule between two distinct isomeric forms whose adsorption wavelengths are different. [20][21][22][23] These photo-induced reactions involve ring-opening (spiropyrans), cis-trans isomerization (azobenzene), phenyl migration (phenoxyquinones), and ring-closure (bisthienylethene).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rewritable Color Patterns with Photochromic Diarylethene-Embedded Electrospun Fibers

Lee¹,

Kim²

2014

Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society

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Photochromic materials have attracted much attention due to their potential for rewritable papers, memory devices, switching and sensor devices.1-19 Photochoromic materials undergo a reversible photo-induced change of a molecule between two distinct isomeric forms whose adsorption wavelengths are different.20-23 These photo-induced reactions involve ring-opening (spiropyrans), cis-trans isomerization (azobenzene), phenyl migration (phenoxyquinones), and ring-closure (bisthienylethene). In general, the photo-generated isomers return to the initials upon visible light irradiation. Among the photochromic compounds, diarylethene derivatives are one of the most appealing materials because of their remarkably high photo-reactivity, photofatigue resistance, short response time as well as absence of thermal isomeriazation and large change in their optical and electronic properties upon irradiation with UV and visible light. 24-26As shown in Scheme 1, diarylethenes can undergo reversible photocyclization between open-ring and closed-ring isomers under irradiation with UV and visible light, respectively. Photochromic studies of diarylethenes in organic solvents, 27 aqueous solutions, 28,29 polymer matrices 30,31 and metal-organic frameworks 33,34 have been conducted. However, there are very few studies about electrospun fibers containing diarylethene molecules. 35In this study, we fabricated diarylethene-embedded electrospun polymer fibers and demonstrated that micro-patterned images can be generated on the electrospun fiber mats through the selective transformation of the diarylethene molecules using photomasked UV irradiation. The patterns can be erased and rewritten without losing the integrity of the images. We also found that the patterned images last for over 30 days in the dark condition. ExperimentalMaterials and Instruments. The photochromic diarylethene 1,2-bis(2,3-dimethyl-5-phenyl-3-thienyl)-3,3,4,4,5,5-hexafluoro-1-cyclopentene was purchased from TCI. Polystyrene (PS) (Mw = 280,000 gmol) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) (Mw = 450,000 gmol −1 ) were purchased from Aldrich. SEM images of the diarylethene-embedded fibers were obtained by using a JEOL (JSM-6330F) FE-SEM instrument. The UV-irradiated diarylethene-containing fibers were coated with Pt for 15 s. SEM images were obtained at an accelerating voltage of 15 kV. Optical images were observed with an Olympus microscope (IX71).Preparation of Diarylethene-Embedded Electrospun PS Fibers. A typical procedure for fabrication of the diarylethene-encapsulated electrospun polymer fiber is as follows. A chloroform and N,N-diformamide solution (95:5 by volume, 3 mL, containing diarylethene (15 mg) and PS (1092.9 mg, Mw = 280,000 gmol −1 ), was pumped through a 25 G metal syringe needle at a constant rate of 0.8 mL/h by using a syringe pump (KD Scientific model 200 series). Application of a high voltage (11 kV) to the metal syringe needle allowed generation of microfibers, which were collected on the surface of a grounded aluminium plate (the working distance between the ti...

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Hydrochromic molecular switches for water-jet rewritable paper

Cited by 226 publications

References 38 publications

Photocatalytic colour switching of redox dyes for ink-free light-printable rewritable paper

Photocatalytic colour switching of redox dyes for ink-free light-printable rewritable paper

A single-molecule multicolor electrochromic device generated through medium engineering

Rewritable Color Patterns with Photochromic Diarylethene-Embedded Electrospun Fibers

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