Visible Light-Driven Spatiotemporal-Resolved Proton Management by Harnessing Merocyanine-Integrated Hydrogels as...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Photochemistry

Background:

• Environmental pH control is vital for reaction kinetics and material properties.
• Conventional merocyanine photoacids are limited by aqueous dissolution and difficult regeneration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel regenerative photoacid matrix for spatiotemporal pH manipulation.
• To overcome the limitations of conventional photoacids through covalent integration into polymer networks.

Main Methods:

• Covalent integration of merocyanine photoacids into hydrophilic polymer networks.
• Tuning merocyanine grafting density to control solubility and alkaline stability.
• Investigating proton release kinetics and regeneration capabilities.
• Demonstrating applications in acid-base indicator control and hydrogelator self-assembly.

Main Results:

• Successfully constructed regenerative photoacid matrices with stable proton retention and light-activated release.
• Matrices exhibited enhanced alkaline stability and tunable, diffusion-controlled proton release kinetics.
• Demonstrated efficient regeneration and sustained photoactivated proton release capability.
• Achieved programmable control of indicator discoloration and guided hierarchical self-assembly of 3D supramolecular gels.
• Established spatially controlled directional proton liberation using phototropic deformation.

Conclusions:

• The developed regenerative photoacid matrices offer a transformative approach to spatiotemporal pH control.
• This strategy overcomes solubility and regeneration challenges of conventional photoacids.
• The approach enables the development of autonomous materials with tailored functionalities and complexity.