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.