Photoexfoliation behavior of hydrogen bonded cyanostilbene liquid crystal polymeric composite

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrated thermal adhesion and photoinduced exfoliation behavior of hydrogen bonded liquid crystalline polymeric composite containing α-cyanostilbene as a photoresponsive moiety. The exfoliation behavior based on trans-cis photoisomerization of α-cyanostilbene and subsequent reduction of molecular order in polymer liquid crystal. The change in molecular order under actinic light irradiation was investigated and it revealed that the photoinduced change in molecular order can be paused by stopping actinic light irradiation due to thermal stability of photogenerated cis isomer of α-cyanostilbene.