6533b7d2fe1ef96bd125dfd7

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Photoswitchable Smectic Liquid-Crystalline Elastomers

Patrick BeyerRudolf Zentel

subject

chemistry.chemical_classificationMaterials scienceAzo compoundPolymers and PlasticsPhotoisomerizationOrganic ChemistryHomeotropic alignmentPolymerDichroismPhotochemistryCis trans isomerizationchemistry.chemical_compoundchemistryPhase (matter)Polymer chemistryMaterials ChemistrySide chain

description

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.

https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.200500093