Ring-closing depolymerization-based degradable shape memory photonic crystals with programmable structural color.

Degradable shape memory photonic crystals (DSMPCs) were designed via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of thioctic acid (TA), which can record the information on demand upon water evaporation and erase it after ethanol evaporation. By leveraging the ring-closing depolymerization (RCD) of poly-TA, the DSMPCs exhibit efficient degradability with structural color self-reporting.