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Photosensitive Bent-Core Liquid Crystals with Laterally Substituted Azobenzene Unit
- Source :
- Crystals, Vol 11, Iss 10, p 1265 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Photosensitive liquid crystals represent an important class of functional materials that experience rapid development. Hereby, we present novel bent-core liquid crystals bearing a lateral substitution on the central core and in the vicinity of the photosensitive unit—an azo group. The azo group enables fast (E)-to-(Z)-isomerization upon irradiation with UV-light and visible light, while the substitution facilitates the high stability of the photochemically formed (Z)-isomer. The effectiveness of the irradiation and the composition of photostationary states was determined by UV/Vis and 1H NMR spectroscopy. A nematic phase formed by the materials was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and optical polarizing microscopy. We show that the materials easily change their relative configuration of the N=N double bond not only in solution, but also in the mesophase, which leads to fast isothermal phase transition from the nematic phase to isotropic liquid.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20734352
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 10
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Crystals
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.6caf032b66ec47789ce425068137c6d1
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11101265