An amphiphilic anionic azobenzene derivative, soluble in water,
formed a monolayer on an aqueous
subphase containing a water-soluble polycation. The monolayers
were transferred onto solid substrate by the
Langmuir−Blodgett (LB) technique. XPS measurements showed that
ion exchange reaction proceeded almost
completely at the air−water interface and that the ratio of the
monomer unit of the polycation to the azobenzene
was almost unity. UV/vis absorption and IR measurements indicated
that the azobenzene photoisomerized
reversibly in the LB films on alternate illumination with UV and vis
light. Furthermore, a reversible
morphological change induced by light was observed in the LB films with
AFM. Before illumination, the
surface of the single-layer LB film was very smooth with a surface
undulation of less than 1 nm. On illumination
with UV light, however, a number of hills, with the height of ca. 5 nm
and the diameter of the base of ca. 100
nm, appeared on the film surface. These structures almost
disappeared on illumination with vis light. This
indicates that the widely accepted assumption that photoisomerization
should not change the two-dimensional
structures significantly does not hold in the present
case.
We propose an innovative temperature control technology wherein a heat capacity change upon lock and key binding is applied. A proof-of-principle calculation is performed using a three-dimensional integral equation theory of a statistical mechanics of fluid (Ornstein-Zernike theory coupled by HNC closure). Logical correctness of the temperature control technology is verified by this calculation. The performance of the heat pump is discussed. In addition, a more effective condition of the heat pump is also discussed to improve the performance.Currently, variety of temperature control (heating and cooling) technologies exist: vapor compression heat pump [1,2], adsorption refrigerating cycle [3,4], adiabatic demagnetization [5,6], magnetocaloric effect [7,8], and laser cooling [9,10], etc. These technologies are applied as air conditioners or experimental apparatuses. Recently, biological functions are drawn upon in some science areas to create new technologies. For example, water purification and drug synthesis make use of biological functions. In this study, we propose an innovative temperature control technology by drawing upon lock and key principle, a one of biological functions. The proposed temperature control technology is a newly proposed heat pump system which utilizes the heat capacity change upon lock and key binding. A proof-of-principle calculation is performed by using a three-dimensional integral equation theory [11][12][13][14] of a statistical mechanics of fluid. Logical correctness of the temperature control technology (the heat pump) is verified by the calculation. The performance of the heat pump is the one of the most considerable things. Therefore, the performance of the heat pump is discussed. In addition, a more effective condition of the heat pump is also discussed to improve the performance.We illustrate the newly proposed heat pump system in Fig. 1. Fig. 1(a) shows a schematic of the heat pump system. There, small spheres forming the solvent exist in the box. The solvent is a sim-*
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