Recent progress in polyoxometalate–viologen photochromic hybrids: structural design, photochromic mechanism, and applications

Abstract

Polyoxometalate–viologen hybrids are a class of photochromic materials with variable structures and interesting application performance. In recent years, some progress has been made in polyoxometalate–viologen photochromic hybrids through rational structural design, realizing the development from thin film to crystalline state. In this review, we summarize recent progress on polyoxometalate–viologen hybrid photochromic materials, especially in structural design, photochromic mechanism, and applications such as photocatalysis, ultraviolet detection, detection of amines and inkless erasable printing.