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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Photoswitchable Smectic Liquid-Crystalline Elastomers
Patrick BeyerRudolf Zentelsubject
chemistry.chemical_classificationMaterials scienceAzo compoundPolymers and PlasticsPhotoisomerizationOrganic ChemistryHomeotropic alignmentPolymerDichroismPhotochemistryCis trans isomerizationchemistry.chemical_compoundchemistryPhase (matter)Polymer chemistryMaterials ChemistrySide chaindescription
We succeeded in the synthesis of azo side chain containing polysioxanes with broad smectic C* and A phases. In these polymers the phase transition temperatures can be shifted reversibly by up to 17°C by irradiation with UV (cis) or VIS (trans) light. Thin films of these polymers in the smectie phase (both on substrates and as free-standing films) orient perfectly in a homeotropic manner. As a consequence, the aze chromophores do no longer absorb during a perpendicular illumination with light (dichroism). It is thus possible to crosslink these films photochemically to prepare photoswitchable smectic LC elastomers.
year | journal | country | edition | language |
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2005-06-07 | Macromolecular Rapid Communications |