An inorganic-organic hybrid photochromic material with fast response to hard and soft X-rays at room temperature

A photochromic compound with fast response to Mo-K α (4 min) and Al-K α (1 s) X-rays was synthesized using a cluster of high- Z atoms and a flexible viologen zwitterion. The coloration time of 1 s when exposed to soft X-rays is the recorded minimum for X-ray-induced photochromic materials, indicating a potential to detect low-energy X-rays. The first X-ray-induced photochromic material, with the coloration time being within 5 min when exposed to Mo-K α and Al-K α X-rays, was designed and synthesized.