We have designed and synthesized azo dyes with reversible intermolecular bonds, which can be used as materials for liquid crystal photoalignment. The generation of anisotropic structures in azo dye thin film is possible due to the presence of intermolecular hydrogen or coordination (metal–oxygen) bonds. All thin film materials are resistant to air moisture, while photoalignment material with reversible hydrogen bonds is inert to direct water contact. In this paper, we study photoalignment dynamics of obtained materials and discuss possible formation of intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonds within the photoalignment dye layer.
There are many photoaligned azo dyes that can be used for orientation of liquid crystals in various display devices. However, the structure of these compounds needs to be optimized to increase the rate of the process of molecule photoalignment, as well as to spread the application of these compounds. The main coordination metal that presents in the molecules of azo dyes is sodium derivatives. The use of other alkali metals remains an open question. We used quantum‐chemical computation methods and reversible intermolecular bonding model to determine the effect of metal coordination on the velocity of photoalignment. The theoretical predictions were experimentally verified using sodium, potassium, lithium, and cesium salts of the model azo dye synthesized by us. We conclude that potassium azo derivatives are the fastest, ceteris paribus.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.