A reactive azobenzene liquid-crystalline block copolymer as a promising material for practical application of light-driven soft actuators
A reactive azobenzene liquid-crystalline block copolymer as a promising material for practical application of light-driven soft actuators
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DOI：
10.1039/c5tc00595g
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发表时间：
2015-06
影响因子：
6.4
通讯作者：
Jiu‐an Lv;Wen Wang;Wei Wu;Yanlei Yu
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jiu‐an Lv;Wen Wang;Wei Wu;Yanlei Yu
含偶氮苯的交联液晶聚合物在光驱动软致动器的设计中具有重要的应用价值，引起了科学家们的极大兴趣。然而，由于化学交联导致的差的加工性严重阻碍了它们的实际应用。本文设计并合成了一种新型含N-羟基琥珀酰亚胺羧酸酯取代偶氮苯基团的反应性嵌段共聚物PEO-b-PAZO。该共聚物与包括熔融和溶液加工方法的传统聚合物加工方法相容，提供了制备光响应膜和纤维的简便方法，并且能够在加工后通过N-羟基琥珀酰亚胺羧酸酯取代基与双官能胺之间的温和反应进行后交联。最重要的是，所制备的纤维和薄膜显示出可逆的光致变形调节的紫外光和可见光（365 nm/470 nm）的交替照射。我们设想，这种新型的液晶聚合物将开辟新的可能性，低成本制造高性能的光驱动执行器的大规模。
Cross-linked liquid-crystalline polymers containing azobenzene have been drawing great research interest of scientists due to their significant values in the design of light-driven soft actuators. However, poor processabilities due to the chemical cross-linking severely prevent their practical applications. Here, we designed and synthesized a novel reactive block copolymer PEO-b-PAZO bearing N-hydroxysuccinimide carboxylate substituted azobenzene groups. This copolymer is compatible with the traditional polymer processing methodology including melt and solution processing methods, providing a facile way to prepare the photoresponsive films and fibers, and enabling post-crosslinking after processing through a mild reaction between N-hydroxysuccinimide carboxylate substituents and a difunctional amine. Most importantly, the prepared fibers and films showed reversible photodeformation regulated by alternating irradiation of UV and visible light (365 nm/470 nm). We envision that this novel liquid crystalline polymer will open up new possibilities for low-cost fabrication of high performance photo-driven actuators on a large scale.