Mechanical Stress Causing Color Change In Polymers

摘要

Various types of display devices and sensors use polymeric materials that change color in response to external stimuli such as heat, light, electric field, and magnetic field. However, a few polymeric materials change color in response to mechanical stimuli, which could be used for practical purposes. When applied to a tension sensor, such polymers can indicate danger spots by detecting stress on a building structure and indicating the stress by the change of their color.Renowned conducting polymer, polyacetylene's instability in air makes its practical use quite difficult. At the same time, substituted polyacetylenes have shown stability in air and research studies have used them in the production of films from their solutions. Researchers from National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) headed by Nobutsugu Minami have developed polymer films that change color instantaneously and reversibly in response to changes in the tension applied.