The increasing interest towards photochromic films and their practical applications is driving researchers in the continuous design and synthesis of novel organic photochromic dyes with optimized performances in polymeric matrices. However, whereas their photochromic properties could be readily rationalized in organic liquid solutions, these could not be directly extrapolated to polymers as their performance changes unpredictably upon integration into a solid matrix. This leads to a time-consuming synthetic re-tuning of the dye chemical structure and/or the polymeric medium. To avoid this, herein we report an efficient, straightforward and universal strategy to embed commercial T-type organic photochromic dyes of different nature in a polymeric material without compromising their optimum solution absorption and isomerization kinetics. Our approach is based on trapping emulsified nanodroplets of a hydrophobic solution enclosing the dye into a hydrophilic polymeric matrix. The material is prepared through one single process using commercially available materials, without further modification of the components (the dye and the polymer matrix) nor requiring previous encapsulation steps. The films, which manifest true solution liquid-like and finely tunable photochromic behavior, are also highly transparent, recyclable, and scalable, and show enhanced fatigue resistance, making them highly suitable for different smart glass applications.

中文翻译：

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高度透明的光致变色薄膜，具有可调节且快速的类似溶液的响应

人们对光致变色膜及其实际应用的兴趣日益浓厚，这驱使研究人员不断设计和合成在聚合物基质中具有最佳性能的新型有机光致变色染料。然而，尽管在有机液体溶液中可以很容易地使它们的光致变色特性合理化，但是由于它们的性能在整合到固体基质中后会发生不可预测的变化，因此不能直接外推到聚合物中。这导致染料化学结构和/或聚合物介质的费时的合成重调。为避免这种情况，我们在此报告了一种有效，简单且通用的策略，可以将不同性质的商业T型有机光致变色染料嵌入聚合物材料中，而不会影响其最佳溶液吸收和异构化动力学。我们的方法是基于将疏水性染料的乳化纳米液滴捕获起来的，该疏水性溶液将染料封闭在亲水性聚合物基体中。该材料是使用市售材料通过一种单一方法制备的，无需进一步修饰组分（染料和聚合物基质），也不需要先前的封装步骤。这些薄膜具有真正的溶液状液体和可微调的光致变色特性，而且具有很高的透明度，可回收性和可扩展性，并显示出增强的抗疲劳性，使其非常适合于不同的智能玻璃应用。无需进一步修饰组分（染料和聚合物基质），也无需先前的封装步骤。这些薄膜具有真正的溶液状液体和可微调的光致变色特性，而且具有很高的透明度，可回收性和可扩展性，并显示出增强的抗疲劳性，使其非常适合于不同的智能玻璃应用。无需进一步修饰组分（染料和聚合物基质），也无需先前的封装步骤。这些薄膜具有真正的溶液状液体和可微调的光致变色特性，而且具有很高的透明度，可回收性和可扩展性，并显示出增强的抗疲劳性，使其非常适合于不同的智能玻璃应用。