A unique photoswitch: intrinsic photothermal heating induced reversible proton conductivity of a HKUST-1 membrane.

In this work, a unique photoswitch is reported based on the intrinsic photothermal properties of a HKUST-1 metal-organic framework (MOF) membrane. The HKUST-1 membrane is synthesized through a solid conversion process at room temperature. It exhibits excellent reversible photoswitchable proton conductivity owing to its intrinsic localized photothermal effect with an optimal on/off ratio of 299 at 55 °C under 95% RH. This may have potential application in remote controlled smart devices.