Electro and photochromic gels
Here we wish to use SANS to explore a gel made from a naphthalene diimide functionalised with a dipeptide on either end. These form worm-like micelles at high pH, and when the pH is dropped below that of the pKa the gel is formed. These gels are also able to change colour reversibly from a transparent material to dark brown/black colour. This is highly attractive for applications such chromic windows, where they can change colour automatically and with the push of a button. This can achieved by irradiation of the sample with UV light to go black, then left in the air to recover to transparent. This can also be achieved by the application of a small negative potential to get the sample to change to black, and then a small positive potential to return it to transparent. We know the gel structure changes upon irradiation as the rheological strain profile changes reversibly too. We want to investigate these structures further using SANS, does the bulk rheology match up to the microstructures, for example. We also want to add in deuterated glycerol as we want to see if we can make the chromic window more tolerant to different temperatures.
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Emily R. Draper; ADAMS Dave and SCHWEINS Ralf. (2018). Electro and photochromic gels. Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) doi:10.5291/ILL-DATA.9-11-1879
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