Naphthalene diimide-based crystalline hybrid photochromic materials: structural types, photochromic mechanism, and applications

Multifunctional stimuli-responsive photochromic materials have significantly expanded their application fields, including molecular switching, information storage and encryption, detection and sensing, etc. 1,4,5,8-Naphthalenediimides (NDIs) have been widely used for the construction of photochromic materials because of their excellent modification potential and high redox activity. As single organic NDI materials exhibit poor fatigue resistance and relatively simple functions, increasing interest in this field focuses on constructing multifunctional crystalline hybrid photochromic materials and exploring applications based on the electron-deficient features of NDIs. Nevertheless, the development of multifunctional naphthalene diimide-based crystalline hybrid photochromic materials (NCHPMs) remains a significant challenge. This paper summarizes structure design strategies for NCHPMs with different NDI ligands, the photochromic mechanism, applications, and future prospects. This article will provide a valuable reference for researchers studying NCHPMs.