Easily prepared photochromic surface with rapid responsiveness, high contrast and cyclic stability for paper recycling

Excessive use of paper materials can generate issues about energy consumption and environmental destruction, thus developing rewritable materials is an effective way to alleviate this situation. In this work, a novel photochromic paper with fast photo-responsiveness was prepared by ultrasonic immersion method of organic–inorganic hybrid. It is involved in a transformation towards charge transfer complex, and the visualization process exhibits rapid color changes. The photochromic efficiency reaches 53.54 % at 688 nm under a 20 s ultraviolet light irradiation, demonstrating its fast light response. Its spontaneous fading process of the discolored material takes at least 14 h, ensuring the short-term stability of information storage as temporary reading materials. After repeating the above coloring and erasing process of 20 times, its reflectance at 688 nm still reaches 31.62 %, demonstrating excellent rewritable stability. In summary, rapid color change rate, high contrast, and excellent cyclic stability of materials provide necessary conditions for their application in modern temporary reading and optical printing fields.