Stability of photochromism in new bifunctional copolymers containing spiropyran and chalcone moiety in the side chain

Abstract

We synthesized three copolymers bearing photochromic spiropyran dye and chalcone moiety in the side chain for studying the dynamic properties of their photochromism. They contain methacrylate-spiropyran (MA-spiropyran) and methacrylate-chalcone (MA-chalcone) with the different concentration. The photosensitivity of the newly synthesized copolymers was investigated by using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. We observed photodimerization and photochromic behavior under UV irradiation at the same time. The effect of photocrosslink on the rate and stability of photochromism in three copolymers was considered in this study. This study might be helpful to design photochromic materials for irreversible optical memory by virtue of photocrosslinking reaction.