Smart screen-printed photochromic fabrics with fast color switching performance and high fatigue resistance for energy storage applications

Photochromic materials have great potential in various novel optoelectronic devices such as adaptive regulation, smart detection, information storage, and camouflage anti-counterfeiting displays. However, the problems of high sensitivity and not to be influenced by external factors are urgent to be solved. Here, we have successfully prepared smart photochromic fabrics for stimulus-responsive applications with high-sensitive spiropyran (SP) and a phase change material of butyl stearate as core materials and encapsulated by a highly translucent poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) shell. And then, they are coated on the fabrics with water-based polyurethane (WPU) by a facile method of screen printing. The preparation of photochromic materials as the form of microcapusles aims at reducing external factors’ disturb and achieving a rapid response when in use. The phase change material of microcapusles acts as a thermal regulation effect on the whole system, providing energy storage and temperature regulation. The resultant reversible photochromic fabrics prepared by this method has the potential applications of tangible information storage (QR codes), anti-counterfeit printing and rewritable patterns due to their fast response and reusability under UV light.