A flexible layered material that changes color according to temperature

What is it about?

Materials with a layered structure can be designed to have desirable properties by adding molecules between the layers or making them self-assemble. To preserve their structure, these layers must be rigid. But, this makes it hard to prepare materials with flexible layers and dynamic properties (properties that can be changed from outside). In this paper, the authors presented a flexible layered material that can self-assemble and show dynamic properties. The material can host molecules between its layers that, in turn, can tune its property. The material is made of a compound that can self-assemble. This creates a large chain-like assembly called a polymer. The authors showed that this polymer chain changes color when the temperature changes. In fact, the color change can occur across a wide range of temperatures. Using this property, the authors image the temperature in real time. They expect that their strategy can be used to design other soft materials as well.

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Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Layered materials can show many unique properties, thanks to its two-dimensional structure. But, they are usually not flexible and do not show dynamic changes in their properties. The material developed in this paper is flexible and changes its color depending on temperature. This can allow for practical applications in temperature sensing. KEY TAKEAWAY: A new kind of flexible material changes color with temperature by allowing its guest molecules to move around. The same method can be used to design similar soft materials