Photochromic metal–organic frameworks for inkless and erasable printing

Abstract

Inkless and erasable printing is the key solution towards a more sustainable paper industry, in terms of reducing paper wastages and the associated environmental hazards from waste paper processing. However, only a few cases have been reported in the literature where inkless printing has been tested in some practical systems. In an attempt to address this solution, we used photochromic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and tested their capability as inkless and erasable printing media. The printing was performed using sunlight as the light source on MOF-coated papers. The resulting printing had good resolution and stability, and was capable of being read both by the human eye and smart electronic devices; furthermore, the paper could be reused for several cycles without any significant loss in intensity. Interestingly, different coloured printing with a similar efficiency was achieved by varying the structure of the MOF.