Issue 3, 2022

Photoresponsive nanostructures of azobenzene-containing block copolymers at solid surfaces

Abstract

The self-assembly properties and photoresponsive behaviours of an azobenzene-containing block copolymer poly(acrylic acid-block-6-(4-(p-tolyldiazenyl)phenoxy)hexyl acrylate) (PAA-b-PAzo) are reported. As azobenzene has reversible transcis photoisomerization abilities, trans PAA-b-PAzo solutions were converted into cis PAA-b-PAzo solutions via UV irradiation. Thus, trans or cis PAA-b-PAzo films were prepared after spin-coating the associated solutions on freshly cleaned silicon wafers. The trans PAA-b-PAzo films self-assembled to produce a hemimicelle morphology with the PAA blocks as the matrix and PAzo blocks as the dispersed phase, which was driven by microphase separation. In contrast, the cis PAA-b-PAzo films generated nanostructures with smaller sizes than the trans PAA-b-PAzo thin films. Moreover, when under UV illumination for 10 min, the island-like hemimicelle assemblies in the trans PAA-b-PAzo films fused into a chain-like morphology based on the photoinduced solid-to-liquid transitions at the nanoscale. Our findings suggest a new method to control the microphase separation and morphologies of block copolymers.

Graphical abstract: Photoresponsive nanostructures of azobenzene-containing block copolymers at solid surfaces

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 ربيع الأول 1443
Accepted
03 جمادى الأولى 1443
First published
04 جمادى الأولى 1443

Polym. Chem., 2022,13, 411-419

Photoresponsive nanostructures of azobenzene-containing block copolymers at solid surfaces

S. Sun, C. Yuan, Z. Xie, W. Xu, Q. Zhang and S. Wu, Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 411 DOI: 10.1039/D1PY01452H

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