Flexible Viologen-Based Porous Framework Showing X-ray Induced Photochromism with Single-Crystal-to-Single-Crystal Transformation

A viologen-based Borromean entangled porous framework was found to be sensitive to both Cu_Kα and Mo_Kα X-ray sources, showing rapid photochromic response and recovery within one minute. The X-ray-induced photochromic process is accompanied by a reversible single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SC-SC) structural transformation, an unprecedented phenomenon for X-ray sensitive materials. The complex can be further processed into portable thin films for detecting the dose of the X-ray exposure. Moreover, the photochromism can occur over a broad temperature range of 100–333 K, both in the form of single crystals and thin films, making it a potential candidate for practical indoor and outdoor applications.