Published in Chemical Engineering Journal: Reversible Thermochromism in Polydiacetylene Vesicles

Our paper on reversible thermochromism in polydiacetylene vesicles has been published in Chemical Engineering Journal.

Polydiacetylene (PDA) vesicles change color from blue to red when heated, but the change is usually irreversible because the polymer backbone does not return to its original packing. In this work, we designed diacetylene monomers with a dual hydrogen-bonding motif: an internal amide group reinforces the molecular packing scaffold, and a terminal carboxylic acid group forms hydrogen bonds at the vesicle–water interface to promote packing recovery.

As a result, the PDA vesicles turn from blue to red on heating up to 100 °C and return to blue on cooling to room temperature. On filter paper, the reversible color change is maintained up to 170 °C.

This work was led by Chanhee Yang in collaboration with Prof. Jong-Man Kim (Hanyang University).

C. Yang, J.-M. Heo*, J.-M. Kim*, Chem. Eng. J. 182756 (2026).

Full text: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.182756