“…In this report, we show that an alignment film with an exceptionally high order parameter (0.81) can be realized by a sequential process involving the photoalignment and humidification of an azobenzene dye, referred to as brilliant yellow (BY, Figure a), dispersed in triacetyl cellulose (TAC, Figure a) as a polymer matrix. BY is known to be a photoalignable dichroic dye ,, and behaves as a chromonic liquid crystal, a class of lyotropic liquid crystal composed of dye molecules. − The photoalignment of BY dispersed in polymer matrices has been investigated previously . For instance, upon exposure to LPUV, BY molecules in polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) can align, whereas those in PVA hardly undergo photoalignment, where the hydrogen bonding interaction between BY and PVA molecules has been suggested to have a negative effect.…”