Light-activated Expanding Chemicals

In my world, electricity has not yet been discovered, but they have somehow still managed to attain a technological advancement similar to modern times.

I am currently trying to tackle the problem of photosensors, for usages such as automatic lighting and 'digital' photography.

My current idea would be to have 'cylinders' containing an expanding material, with a lens on one end and delicate pistons on the other, acting as pixels.

The material would expand base on the brightness, and the pistons would pick up on this, translating the light into motion for some regulating mechanism.

Would it be feasible, from a chemical point of view, to have a chemical that expands based on light intensity?

If so, what other properties might such a material possess?

I am specifically looking for a material which can react to quick changes in light, so most candidates functioning via thermal expansion would be unsuitable.

posted about 5 years ago

A Lambent Eye‭

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