Stimuli-Induced Reversible Proton Transfer for Stimuli-Responsive Materials and Devices

Abstract

Conspectus Stimuli-responsive materials have a great potential in various novel photoelectric devices, such as self-adaptive adjustment devices, intelligent detection, molecular computers with information storage capability, camouflage and anticounterfeiting display, various energy-saving displays, and others. However, progress in related areas has been relatively slow because of the lack of high-performance smart materials and the limitations of available reaction mechanisms currently. To address these problems fundamentally, new mechanisms need to be designed and developed, and learning from nature is an effective and intelligent method to achieve this long-awaited target, such as mimicking of proton transfer processes in nature at the molecular/supramolecular level. The stimuli-induced reversible proton transfer system is composed of materials that release or capture protons in response to stimuli and switch molecules that control color and/or fluorescence modulation by protons, and it is applied in stimuli-responsive materials and devices, including bistable electronic/electrochromic devices, electrofluorochromic devices, water-jet rewritable paper, visible-light-responsive rewritable paper, and mechanochromic materials. To help researchers gain deep insight into stimuli-induced reversible proton transfer, we attempted to summarize its reaction mechanism and design principle, and discuss strategies to design and prepare various related stimuli-responsive materials and devices. This Account discusses the different systems in which a color/fluorescence change is induced by the proton transfer process under various stimuli, including electric field, water, light, heat, and stress. Relative very promising applications as well as their performance especially for energy-saving and environmentally friendly devices are then summarized, such as energy-saving bistable electrochromic devices, water-jet rewritable paper, and visible-light-responsive rewritable paper. Meanwhile, we focus on the key influence factors and useful additives for improving the device’s performance. At last, challenges and bottlenecks faced by stimuli-responsive materials and devices based on the mechanism of reversible proton transfer are proposed. Moreover, we put forward some suggestions on solving these limitations. These exciting results reveal that smart materials based on the mechanism of proton transfer are extremely attractive and possess great potential in the next generation of energy and resource saving and environmental protection display. We hope that this Account further prospers the field of intelligent stimuli-responsive discoloration materials and next-generation green displays.

Anthracene-Containing Metallacycles and Metallacages: Structures, Properties, and Applications

“…Stimulus response can be defined as the phenomenon that the substrates are capable of altering their structural and/or physical-chemical properties in response to external stimulus such as temperature, light irradiation, pressure, chemicals, solvent, and so on. The development of stimulus-responsive materials has attracted extensive research interests in order to mimic bioprocesses and explore functional materials [72][73][74][75]. Anthracene-based supramolecular architectures with intriguing photophysical, photochemical, and hostguest behavior represent a promising category of stimulus-responsive material candidates.…”

Switched Proton Conduction in Metal–Organic Frameworks

“… 1 − 3 These so-called “smart materials” can adapt to various stimuli, such as electric field, solvent, light, heat, and stress, resulting in emerging applications in diverse fields such as biomedicine, biotechnologies, renewable energies, data storage, imaging and sensing, textiles, and smart coatings. 4 − 20 In particular, stimulus-induced proton (H + ) transport has aroused great attention, 21 − 24 stemming from the importance of proton transfer in living systems, 25 − 27 wherein electrical signals are communicated and processed via protonic currents. 28 , 29 The development of artificial stimuli-responsive proton conductors is intriguing not only in useful applications, such as drug delivery, 22 , 30 , 31 sensors, 32 , 33 memory, 34 − 36 and display devices, 37 but also in a better understanding of proton-transport paths.…”

Mechanochromic luminogens with hypsochromically shifted emission switching property: recent advances and perspectives

“…The phenomenon by which the solid-state emission of fluorophores changes in response to different mechanical stimuli (shearing, crushing, grinding, stretching, and hydrostatic pressure) is called mechanochromism. [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] Mechanochromic luminescence (MCL) is a phenomenon which involves reversible changes in the photoluminescence colour of a material on applying mechanical stimuli. 43 The initial state of MCL materials can be recovered by any other stimuli apart from mechanical stimuli such as solvent vapours or temperature.…”