Chemistry

Photoswitchable molecules allow writing by radiation or heat and erasing by visible light.

Ultraviolet rays disappear when you write the kanji “light” on treated paper and irradiate it with visible light. Next, marks are made on the treated paper with a soldering iron, and the marks disappear when exposed to visible light. Provided by: Osaka Metropolitan University

In the age of cloud storage, few people back up their data to CD-RWs. Technology for rewriting data on CDs was made possible by phase-change materials that were changed by laser light and heat, but the number of rewrites was limited to 1,000 times.

Scientists currently studying photoswitching molecules that change their properties when irradiated are discovering potential applications for these materials, from photopharmacology to data storage.

Student Shota Hamaya, lecturer Daichi Kitagawa, professor Seiya Obata, and colleagues from the Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Engineering synthesized azadiarylethene, which has a molecular structure similar to known photoswitching diarylethenes but has nitrogen instead of carbon. The new aza-diarylethenes showed not only optical switching but also thermal switching.

The research results were published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

They demonstrated that new photoswitchable molecules can be used as rewritable recording media that can be written using light or heat and erased with light.

“Our discovery will be very useful for developing switching molecules that can be reversibly changed not only by light but also by heat,” said Dr. Kitagawa. “It may also lead to the development of new functional materials.”

Further information: Shota Hamtani et al., Aza-Diarylethenes Undercoming Both Photochemically and Thermally Reversible Electrocyclic Reactions, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2024). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202414121

Provided by Osaka Metropolitan University

Citation: Photoswitching molecules allow writing with radiation or heat and erasing with visible light (October 16, 2024) https://phys.org/news/2024-10-photoswitching-molecules-irradiation-erasing-visible Retrieved October 16, 2024. html

This document is subject to copyright. No part may be reproduced without written permission, except in fair dealing for personal study or research purposes. Content is provided for informational purposes only.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button