Issue 10, 2023

Photochromic/electrochromic strain sensor with a fast and reversible light-printing ability

Abstract

The excessive use of paper causes serious resource consumption and environmental pollution. Environmentally friendly light printing based on a photochromic system with the advantages of being noncontact, rapid, and inkless has attracted increasing attention; however, several problems need to be addressed, such as slow discoloration and irreversibility. In this work, a composite of MoO3−x inorganic nanorods and the conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) was employed as a color-changing electrode, and a photochromic/electrochromic strain sensor (PESS) was obtained by assembling the color-changing electrode with an organohydrogel electrolyte and a flexible indium tin oxide (ITO) film. Due to the photochromic/electrochromic effect of MoO3−x and the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS, the sensor turned cyan-blue under UV irradiation or a negative bias voltage, and it could be rapidly bleached by applying a positive bias voltage. The photochromic/electrochromic behavior of the PESS could be optimized by tuning the amount of PEDOT:PSS, and the device could perform cyclic light printing/electroerasing with a fast and stable response. Moreover, the flexible strain sensor could be utilized to monitor mechanical strain by translating a series of deformations into electrical signals. The properties of photochromism/electrochromism and strain sensing make the device potentially applicable to outdoor wearable devices capable of light-based printing.

Graphical abstract: Photochromic/electrochromic strain sensor with a fast and reversible light-printing ability

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Dec 2022
Accepted
23 Feb 2023
First published
23 Feb 2023

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023,11, 3634-3643

Photochromic/electrochromic strain sensor with a fast and reversible light-printing ability

J. Liang, B. Li, X. Gai, N. Li, J. Wang, Y. Zhang, Q. Zhou and Y. Sun, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023, 11, 3634 DOI: 10.1039/D2TC05417E

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