Abstract
Abstract Non-conjugated multi-functionalized all-optical photorefractive (PR) polymers were designed and synthesized via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of two monomers using Grubbs II catalyst as an initiator. The polymers were characterized by infrared (IR) spectrum, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), UV-visible spectrum (UV-Vis), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TG) and so on. The number-average molar mass (M n) of the polymers is no less than 8.5 × 104 while their glass transition temperatures of 52°C and 45°C are close to the room temperature, which is helpful to the enhancement of PR orientation and the fabrication of PR devices. The polymers have good thermal stability and great solubility in tetrahydrofuran (THF). Without any plasticizer, the transparent optical films can be prepared by solution-casting with THF solution of polymers. Their PR properties at 633 nm were evaluated by two beam coupling (TBC) experiments under zero electric field without prepoling. It is shown that the single-component polymer has obvious all-optical PR behavior.
Highlights
Photorefractive (PR) polymeric materials, including fully functional polymers and polymer composites, have been studied for years owing to their potential applications in phase conjugation, high-density optical data storage, neural network simulations, image processing and so on [1,2,3,4,5,6]
In order to solve this problem, we focus on ringopening metathesis polymerization (ROMP)
The fully functional PR polymers with NCMC structure were synthesized by ROMP using Grubbs II catalyst, in which the long alkyl spacer between the functional chromophore and methine group was expected to ensure the low glass temperature and free rotation of PR chromophore
Summary
Photorefractive (PR) polymeric materials, including fully functional polymers and polymer composites, have been studied for years owing to their potential applications in phase conjugation, high-density optical data storage, neural network simulations, image processing and so on [1,2,3,4,5,6]. In the past few years, organic amorphous PR molecular materials have been developed Their good PR performance and simple synthesis method can provide theoretical basis for the molecular design of full-functional/multi-functional NCMC polymer [11,12,13,14]. It is an interesting subject to synthesize all-optical multi-functional PR polymers with well-defined structure and high molecular weight by simple ring-opening metathesis polymerization. In our previous work [26], we have designed norbornene functional monomers with azobenzene chromophores and the polymers were synthesized by ROMP using Grubbs I catalyst. The fully functional PR polymers with NCMC structure were synthesized by ROMP using Grubbs II catalyst, in which the long alkyl spacer between the functional chromophore and methine group was expected to ensure the low glass temperature and free rotation of PR chromophore. In the measurement process of TBC carried out at 633 nm, it was found that the polymers were able to take on an all-optical PR performance at room temperature and zero electrical field without any plasticizer, any photosensitizer and prepoling, which provide the convenient precondition for practical PR application
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