Adsorption of a Spiropyran on a Layered Clay Mineral

Abstract

Adsorption of a photochromic dye, spiropyran, on a layered clay mineral, a synthetic hectorite, was investigated. Spiropyrans are well-known photochromic molecules due to its fast and reproducible color change resulting from the photoisomerization between hydrophobic closed-ring spiropyran and hydrophilic open-ring merocyanine. The photochemical reaction of the adsorbed spiropyran in the modified hectorite was also examined.