Chromogenic polymer gels for reversible transparency and color control with temperature at a constant volume

The preparation and characterization of novel chromogenic materials has developed extremely rapid in the last years. Among them, thermotropic and thermochromic polymer gel networks have met with growing interest, because of their advanced properties. These novel polymer gels exhibit pronounced changes in transparency and/or color intensity in a practically relevant temperature range. For many future technical applications it is an essential condition, that the volume of the used gel materials is independent of temperature. A current overview of this field is given. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.