Fluorescent photoswitchable nanohybrids based on photochromism

A new type of fluorescent photoswitchable nanohybrids based on photochromism has been assembled, in which hydrophobic diarylethene and matched fluorescent dye are assembled in the nanoscale crosslinked polymeric matrix via a modified miniemulsion polymerization process and a seeded polymerization technique. The nanohybrids exhibited excellent fluorescent photoswitchable action owing to efficient photoinduced energy transfer whether the nanohybrids as nanoparticles dispersed in water or in a polymer film, and the improved photo-thermal stability of both essential components could be readily achieved. Importantly, our assembling approach is much simpler than the covalent chemical synthesis, and is a general method for other hydrophobic photochromic compounds.