Abstract
Photochromic materials have attracted increasing attention. Here, we report a novel photo-reversible color switching system based on oxygen-vacancy-engineered MoOx nanostructures with water/N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as solvents. In this work, the system rapidly changed from colorless to blue under UV irradiation (360–400 nm) and slowly recovered its colorless state under visible light irradiation. The obtained oxygen vacancy-engineered MoOx nanostructures exhibited good repeatability, chemical stability, and cycling stability. Upon UV light irradiation, H+ was intercalated into layered MoOx nanostructures and the Mo6+ concentration in the HxMoOx decreased, while the Mo5+ concentration increased and increased oxygen vacancies changed the color to blue. Then, it recovered its original color slowly without UV light irradiation. What is more, the system was highly sensitive to UV light even on cloudy days. Compared with other reported photochromic materials, the system in this study has the advantage of facile preparation and provides new insights for the development of photochromic materials without dyes.
Highlights
Materials that exhibit a change in their optical properties under the influence of either an electric field or light are known as discoloration materials
In the case of the mixed solvent system of water/NMP, water introduced to produce the case of the mixed solvent system of water/NMP, water waswas introduced to produce
H+ through photo-oxidation to facilitate intercalation into molybdenum oxide (MoOx) exhibiting a layered through photo‐oxidation to facilitate intercalation into MoOx exhibiting a layered struc‐
Summary
Materials that exhibit a change in their optical properties under the influence of either an electric field or light are known as discoloration materials. MoO3 exhibiting a low oxygen vacancy concentration is white in color, whereas MoO3 with a high oxygen vacancy concentration is often blue or dark blue in color [13] This phenomenon can be explained through the crystal rearrangements induced in the Mo−O units at the surface of the material during the Nanomaterials 2021, 11, 3192. Successful liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) of a layered material relies on overcoming the van der Waals forces between adjacent layers in the material [27,28,29] This requires either an initial increase in the layer–layer spacing, which is induced through intercalation or by mixing with a solvent displaying equal surface tension properties [28,30]. The influence of reaction time on nanostructures performance was investigated in an attempt to validate their tunability through a slight adjustment in experimental parameters
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