Fig. 5: Demonstration of the MIST system.

a Experimental setup used to monitor heat release. 400 μL of a gel formed from the Azo-FV cis-isomer was placed in a 3.5 mL glass vial and irradiated with two 505 nm LEDs. A thermal camera was used to monitor the temperature; b Heat release from cis-gel of Azo-FV at a concentration of 200 mg mL⁻¹ (red) as compared to water (black). The gel was kept in the dark for 1 week before the release experiment was carried out, with the data being very similar to that from a gel where heat release was measured immediately after isomerization. Inset are photographs from the thermal camera showing the raw data at specific time points (expanded versions are available in the Supporting Information to clearly see the scale bars). c Partial ¹H NMR spectra for repeat cycles of irradiation on the same sample showing the repeated transition from trans to cis; d Heat release from the cis-gel and trans-gel over multiple cycles from the same gel. Note that the absolute temperature released in (b) and (d) are different due to different ambient conditions in our laboratory.