Recent Advances in Photomechanical Crystals Made from Metal–Organic and Organometallic Complexes
Yanlin Chen, Yaoguang Wang, Qi Yu
Abstract
Photomechanical crystals that can directly convert light energy into mechanical work attracted increasing attention due to their dramatic behaviors and potential applications in photoactuators. However, a barrier in this field need to be overcome at present is how to endow the material with stable, continuous, and reversible response behavior. To date, numerous strategies have been explored to improve the mechanical properties for practical application in which coordination is an effective strategy to control the arrangement of photoresponsive group in crystals. Herein, we will summarize the progress recently made on photomechanical complexes. Then we briefly highlight possible applications of the photomechanical complex crystals and discuss the challenge and bottleneck that still need to be overcome for future practical applications.