(Chem. Mater.) Photomodulated Tri-Color-Changing Artificial Flowers-Hong Yang

In nature, many ?owers can open their petals into blooming ?owers or furl them into buds and simultaneously alter the petal colors under the precise control of light, temperature, pH, humidity, or other environmental stimuli. Inspired by this fascinating natural phenomenon, here we report a two-spiropyran-unit-functionalized, monodomain/ polydomain bilayer-structured liquid crystal elastomer strategy to fabricate an ultraviolet, green, and near-infrared trilightmodulated tricolor-changing ?ower mimic soft actuator. Relying on a combination of photochromic e?ect, thermochromic e?ect, pigment blending e?ect, photothermal conversion e?ect, and gradient stress e?ect, this ?ower mimic material can furl or open it “petals” under the on/o? stimulation of near-infrared light and meanwhile possess a tristable showy color switch system which is tunable through varying the wavelength band (365, 520, and 808 nm) of light stimuli. Such a material has wide application prospects in camou?age materials, control devices, and biomimetic devices.