Substituent-modulated organic single crystals with a rapid natural light photomechanical response

Abstract

Light-driven organic molecular crystalline materials demonstrate promising potential in microrobotics, photo-switches, and photoactuators. In this work, we developed three α-cyanostilbene derivatives with substituents via the Knoevenagel condensation reaction. Systematic substituent modulation enabled optimization of both the crystal morphology and photomechanical responses. These crystals exhibit significantly fast response kinetics in air and water.