Enhanced photochromism of silver bromide/polyvinylpyrrolidone film doped with noble metal ions and its application on rewritable paper with erasure without heating or oxygen

Abstract

Ink-free printing and rewritable paper have attracted great attention as a potential alternative to current paper prints. Herein, a kind of novel rewritable paper based on silver bromide (AgBr)/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) hybrids is reported, and the system can be erased in dark without heating or oxygen due to the presence of [Formula: see text]. The preparation temperature showed significant effect on the morphology and size of AgBr crystal. When the preparation temperature at 60∘C, the AgBr crystal demonstrated a spherical structure with a size of 0.075[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m, and the film showed transparency. The addition of noble metal ions can significantly increase the sensitivity to UV irradiation, and the optimum concentration of [Formula: see text] ion was [Formula: see text] M for the reversible property of the rewritable paper. After ten writing–erasing cycles, the repeatable writing performance changed little. With prolonged UV illumination, the erasing time of rewritable paper became longer, and even up to one week, showing great potential for practical applications.