Chromogenic materials, methods of making chromogenic materials, and methods of use

A porous polymer material comprising an ordered array of voids, wherein a distance between at least two pairs of adjacent voids is substantially the same, wherein a polymer framework separates the voids;

• wherein the porous polymer material has a recovery state, wherein the voids are in an uncollapsed state and the porous polymer material has the characteristic of having an iridescent color;
• wherein the porous polymer material has a deformed state, wherein the voids are in a collapsed state and the porous polymer material has the characteristic of being either non-iridescent or substantially transparent;
• and
• wherein the deformed state occurs when a solvent is evaporated from the porous polymer material causing the voids to collapse, and wherein when the recovery state occurs when the porous polymer material in the deformed state is exposed to an external stimulus causing the collapsed voids renew their uncollapsed state, wherein the external stimulus is selected from:
• a target compound or a laser illumination;
• wherein the external stimulus is a target compound;
• and
• wherein the target compound is selected from the group consisting of:
• uncured PDMS oligomer, a drug, Vitamin E, and lidocaine.