A reversible photochromic covalent organic framework

Xue-Tian Li; Meng-Jing Li; Yuan-Liang Tian; Shu-Lin Han; Lei Cai; Hui-Chao Ma; Ying-Qiang Zhao; Gong-Jun Chen; Yu-Bin Dong

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-52788-3

A reversible photochromic covalent organic framework

Nat Commun. 2024 Oct 1;15(1):8484. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52788-3.

Authors

Xue-Tian Li¹, Meng-Jing Li¹, Yuan-Liang Tian¹, Shu-Lin Han², Lei Cai², Hui-Chao Ma¹, Ying-Qiang Zhao¹, Gong-Jun Chen³, Yu-Bin Dong⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, P. R. China.
² Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Medical Physics and Image Processing Technology, School of Physics and Electronics, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, P. R. China.
³ College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, P. R. China. gongjchen@126.com.
⁴ College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Collaborative Innovation Center of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, P. R. China. yubindong@sdnu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Covalent organic frameworks are a type of crystalline porous materials that linked through covalent bond, and they have numerous potential applications in adsorption, separation, catalysis, and more. However, there are rarely relevant reported on photochromism. Fortunately, a hydrazone-linked DBTB-DETH-COF is rapidly generated through ultrasound method. The DBTB-DETH-COF is found to exhibit reversible photochromism (at least 50 cycles) from yellow to olive in the presence of light and air, and subsequently back to the original color upon heating. In addition, the structure of DBTB-DETH-COF remains unchanged after 15 days of light illumination. Furthermore, the reason of photochromic process is discussed by electron paramagnetic resonance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electrochemistry characterizations and transient absorption measurements. The reversible photochromic DBTB-DETH-COF can be used as anti-counterfeiting ink and optical switch in the presence of air. This work expands a stable organic photochromic material and broadens the applications of COFs.

Abstract

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