Robust Large-Sized Photochromic Photonic Crystal Film for Smart Decoration and Anti-Counterfeiting

Photochromic materials are widely investigated due to their vivid color transformation for many real applications. In this work, a new kind of multiangle photochromic photonic crystal (PC) material with high robustness and long durability for smart phone decoration and anticounterfeiting features is fabricated. After thermal mixing of spiropyran powder and monodisperse core-interlayer-shell (CIS) particles, a large-area and high-quality photochromic PC film has been prepared by the self-designed bending-induced ordering technique (BIOT). The spiropyran powder can be well dispersed in the order-structured PC system, so the perfect synergistic combination of photochromism and angle-dependent structure colors can be achieved. The color-switching test for the as-prepared photochromic PC film proved its excellent reversibility and stability. Because of the excellent flexibility of the photo-cross-linked PC films, they can be designed and cut into various shapes with high robustness and long durability. Interestingly, a temperature-controlled photochromic effect was found in this photochromic PC system. Therefore, the as-prepared photochromic PC films can play a significant role in the fields of smart decoration and anticounterfeiting by their unique color switching effects under different stimuli. More importantly, our work verified the feasibility of this route to prepare a series of large-sized advanced smart PC devices by adding versatile functional materials.