Rewritable Polymer Films Based on Topo-Polymerization of Diacetylenes in Poly(Propylene Carbonate)

Photopatterning on polymer films has attracted extensive attention due to its widespread applications. Nevertheless, it is still challenging to rewrite these patterns. Herein, we demonstrate a viable approach toward the rewritable polymer films based on topo-polymerization of the diacetylene monomer (e.g., 10, 12-pentacosadiynoic acid, PCDA) in poly­(propylene carbonate) (i.e., PPC). Rewritability of at least 17 times through the reversible colorimetric change of polydiacetylene (PDA) is achieved, and the written information can be maintained for 9 months under ambient conditions. Moreover, it is found that the hydrogen bonding interaction between PCDA and PPC plays a key role in improving the rewriting performance according to variable temperature Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. Well-defined assembly of PCDA along the PPC main chain is enabled, which leads to improved topo-polymerization of PCDA. The proposed paradigm here paves the way to design rewritable polymer films with customized patterning.