Thermal and Photo Alignment Behavior of Polyethylene Imine Having Methoxy Substituent Azobenzene Side Chain Group

Abstract

Novel type of polyethylene imine having methoxy (-OCH 3 ) substituent azobenzene side chain group through eight methylene spacer group (PEI8M) was successfully synthesized and characterized by the polymer by 1 H NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microscopic and X-ray diffraction analysis. Synthesized polymer possessed liquid crystalline (LC) properties. Spin coated PEI8M film showed out-of-plane molecular orientation on annealing and non-polarized visible light irradiation. PEI8M in solid film exhibited photoresponsive properties upon irradiation of UV and visible light. PEI8M film also exhibited reversible molecular orientation from random state to out-of-plane and from out-of-plane to random state on annealing, non-polarized UV and visible light irradiation.

Light-induced Phase Transition of Lyotropic Liquid Crystals and Motion Behavior of Micron Objects via Photochemical Azobenzene Molecules

“…Owing to the photo-isomerization behavior, much effort has been focused on the Az compounds to control phase transition of LCs as well as alignment of LCs for applications on optical displays and assembly technology, which have been studied by various external stimuli, such as gravitational field, external electric, magnetic fields, thermo, and light [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”