Abstract
ABSTRACTStimuli-responsive soft matters have been recognised by many scientists and engineers as very important because of their inherent characteristics in response to environmental changes. In particular, there has been much progress over the last few years on light-responsive soft matters that can respond remotely. By controlling the packing behaviours and the physical properties of the photoresponsive liquid crystal (LC) molecules, the application field is expanding, including the use in flexible polarisers, patterned objects, logic devices, biomimetic photonic crystals and energy harvesting materials. This review discusses the general concept of azobenzene-based LC compounds from small molecules to macromolecules and their corresponding structural evolutions in solid states. Finally, we identify the challenges faced in the research of photoresponsive organic materials and present future applications.
Highlights
Over the years, researches on liquid crystals (LCs) have made significant advances in understanding the selfassembly behaviour of soft materials [1]
For a lyotropic LC (LLC) comprising fluidic molecular complexes, it is commonly formed by the self-organisation of amphiphilic molecules in organic or inorganic solvents [7]
LLC molecules with a hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail form the superstructures of micelles, vesicles and microtubules [8]
Summary
Researches on liquid crystals (LCs) have made significant advances in understanding the selfassembly behaviour of soft materials [1]. Based on the shape of the core, TLC is classified as conventional and nonconventional LC [4] The former includes calamitic and discotic molecules, while the latter contains a wide range of anisotropic mesogens such as polycatenars, bent cores and star-shaped molecules [5]. It provides anisotropic behaviour with practical application. The inclusion of azobenzene into functional materials is the widely used approach towards photomodulation of ordered structures. In this method, the azobenzene is chemically connected to small molecules, macromolecules, and supramolecules
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