On-Demand Regulation of Photoreversible Color Switching for Rewritable Paper and Transient Information Encryption

The achievement of photoreversible color switching systems (PCSS) has offered great opportunities for fundamental studies and practical applications. However, the development of PCSS that possessing highly reversible cyclability and on-demand regulation of recoloration process remains a grand challenge. Herein, we report a hydrazine-mediated self-doping strategy for the synthesis of alkaline Ti3+ self-doped TiO2–x nanoparticles, enabling the TiO2–x nanoparticles/methylene blue based PCSS with long photoreversible cyclability and rapid color switching rate. The Ti3+ species as internal sacrificial electron donors significantly improve the photoreductive activity of TiO2–x nanoparticles, which results in fast decoloration rate and long cycling number of the PCSS. Simultaneously, the alkaline property of TiO2–x nanoparticles enhances the oxidation kinetics of the PCSS to dramatically accelerate the recoloration rate. Moreover, the PCSS can be integrated elaborately with biodegradable agarose to form flexible color switching films, which exhibit long-waited on-demand regulation of recoloration rate in a wide range. By taking advantage of photoreversible color switching and time-resolved color changing process, we demonstrate their potential application in self-erasing rewritable paper and transient optical information encryption. This work represents a new strategy for the future development of PCSS and their advanced applications.