Добірка наукової літератури з теми "Photo-responsive polymer"

Polymers with light-responsive groups have gained increased attention in the design of functional materials, as they allow changes in polymers properties, on demand, and simply by light exposure. For the synthesis of polymers and polymer networks with photolabile properties, the introduction o-nitrobenzyl alcohol (o-NB) derivatives as light-responsive chromophores has become a convenient and powerful route. Although o-NB groups were successfully exploited in numerous applications, this review pays particular attention to the studies in which they were included as photo-responsive moieties in thin polymer films and functional polymer coatings. The review is divided into four different sections according to the chemical structure of the polymer networks: (i) acrylate and methacrylate; (ii) thiol-click; (iii) epoxy; and (iv) polydimethylsiloxane. We conclude with an outlook of the present challenges and future perspectives of the versatile and unique features of o-NB chemistry.

Through structure–activity relationship study and density functional theory, this research designs novel lignin-based photo-responsive crosslinkable polymer with engineerable self-healing properties by utilizing a green photo-polymerization method.

In the past few years four-dimensional (4D) printing technologies have attained worldwide interest and they are now considered the "next big thing". The aim of this research is to provide three selected examples of stimuli-responsive polymer (SRP) applications additively manufactured (AM) by the fused filament fabrication (FFF) technique. To that end, a CCT BLUE filament of thermo-responsive polymer was chosen to produce a water temperature indicator, which changes colour from blue to white when temperature increases; a CCU RED filament of photo-responsive polymer was used to produce a sunlight / UV indicator bracelet; a transparent PLA CLEAR polymer, a CCU RED photo-responsive polymer, and an electrical conductive PLA polymer were selected to produce a smart business card stand. The temperature indicator capability was analysed based on examining colour changes as a function of temperature changes. The sunlight/UV indicator capability was analysed based on the inspection of colour change as a function of absorbed sun/ultraviolet light. The electrical conductivity of the conductive PLA polymer was examined by performing resistance measurements. All three objects were successfully produced and their functionality was demonstrated. We hope that these examples will catalyse the expansion of FFF 4D printed SRP applications, as much work remains to be done in designing the parts and developing FFF printing parameters that take advantage of the stimuli-responsive materials currently being developed for FFF technology.

The overall thrust of this project is to gain an insight into a class of surface-tethered cross-linked thin films of poly(N-alkylacrylamides) that display a lower critical solution temperature (LCST).The structure of the alkyl group and the modification of the amide groups determine the LCST and resultant volume-phase transition behavior. The aim of this study involves synthesis and characterization of thin films and to correlate the volume-transition behavior to the structure of the alkyl group. For better understanding the volume-transition behavior, the polymer films are perturbed by the Hofmeister salt series to examine trends between different alkyl groups. While most of the studies have been done with bulk gels, the majority of the applications require the use of gels at surfaces and interfaces. Surface attached polymer networks provide an alternative to bulk gels showing superior response times, thus efficiency. Hence it is significant to understand the impact of confinement on the phase transition behavior of a polymer network. Anchoring a polymer network to a surface produces volume phase transition perpendicular to the substrate. The parallel swelling and collapse of the network is highly restricted due to lateral confinement, thus impacting properties such as structure, mechanical properties, dynamics and permeability of the network. Several studies have been done with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) anchored to a substrate, which have shown significantly different behavior than unconstrained networks. Notable examples include a gradual as opposed to a sharp volume-phase transition, and significantly less swelling above and below the LCST. These studies only looked at poly(NIPAAm); therefore it remains unknown if these results are universal and will apply to other LCST polymers. Hence, we expanded upon these studies to also investigate a library of different LCST polymers belonging to the category of N-alkylacrylamides. I have synthesized the copolymers comprising of N-alkylacrylamides and methacryloxybenzophenone (MaBP). The benzophenone moiety in MaBP is photoreactive, allowing us to cross-link the copolymers by UV irradiation. Surface attached thin films were fabricated by spin coating the solution of copolymers and cross-linking by UV irradiation. The volume phase transitions of the coatings were studied under the influence of temperature and the salts of the Hofmeister series. Information concerning the state of responsive layers, the precise temperature at which the collapse occurs, and the changes in the molecular environment during the transition were investigated by ellipsometry and ATR-FTIR. In a longer perspective, understanding the transition behavior and the influence of salts governing this transition provides a better understanding of the interactions of biopolymers in natural systems.

With the emergence of novel and more effective drug therapies, increased importance is being placed upon the methods by which these drugs are being delivered to the body. In conventional drug delivery systems, there is very little control over the release of drug. The effective concentration at the target site can be achieved by intermittent administration of grossly excessive doses, which, often results in constantly, unpredictable variations in plasma concentrations, with the risk of reaching levels below or above the therapeutic range leading to marked side effects. A plethora of formulation strategies mainly based on polymeric/lipid nanoparticles, are described in literature. Even though these systems are therapeutically advantageous in comparison to conventional systems, they remain insensitive to the changing metabolic states of the body although the symptoms of most metabolic diseases follow a rhythmic pattern.A more appropriate and effective approach of managing some of these conditions lies in the chronotherapy. This approach allows for pulsed or self-regulated drug delivery which is adjusted to the staging of biological rhythms, since the onset of certain diseases exhibits strong circadian temporal dependence. In order to reach the objective of mimicking the biophysical and biochemical processes of pathological states, many innovations in material design for drug delivery systems (DDS) that are able to release the therapeutic payload-on-demand were done to release the therapeutic agent only when it is required, according to the physiological need. The development of multidisciplinary research teams has brought huge advantages in the design, fabrication and utilization of such smart systems, especially in the pharmaceutical field. Interestingly, numerous smart polymeric materials exhibit a response to a specific stimulus. A step further, the elaboration of purpose-built monomers can give rise to compounds with tunable sensitivities or multi-stimuli responsiveness. These smart polymers demonstrate an active responsiveness to environmental (or external) signals and change their physicochemical properties as designed (e.g. conformation, solubility, shape, charge or size). As far as the stimuli are concerned, they consist of physical (e.g. temperature, ultrasound, light, electricity, magnetic or mechanical stress), chemical (e.g. pH, ionic strength) and biological signals (e.g. enzymes, biomolecules). Due to the intrapersonal variabilities which may make internal stimuli hazardous, externally controlled systems rely on externally applied stimuli that are produced by stimuli-generating devices, which results in pulsed drug delivery. This type of delivery may be rapid and allows a transient release of a determined amount of drug within a short period of time immediately after a pre-determined off-release period. A novel strategy for the formation of multi-stimuli responsive materials endowed with pH, magnetic and light sensitivity was achieved. The approach relied on the incorporation of magnetic tetrahalogenoferrate(III) anions along a polymeric backbone based on poly(2-(N,N-dimethylamino) ethyl meth-acrylate) (PDMAEMA). Starting from the same PDMAEMA, quaternized pending amine groups with various halide derivatives gave rise to magnetic materials after anion metathesis. Measuring the magnetic susceptibility of these materials exhibited that the magnetic susceptibility increased as the substituted group size decreased (become smaller) which was apparently related to the steric hindrance around the ionic pendants. Additionally, a good correlation between the magnetic susceptibility and ferric content was found. Additional experimental and theoretical Raman analyses allowed the determination of the nature of the magnetic species constituting the materials. This strategy further offers the opportunity to tailor the magnetic response through partial ammonium salt formation. In order to merge the magnetic properties of ferric-based materials with another stimuli-responsive functionality, random copolymers containing DMAEMA (D) with diazobenzene (A) unit were prepared. So, three copolymers PDA were synthesized (with targeted D/A ratios 4/6 (PDA4), 6/4 (PDA6) and 8/2 (PDA8)). Meanwhile, different degrees of amine quaternization (10, 50 and 100 %) were applied, which led to the following polymeric salts PDAX/Y where X = 4, 6, 8 (referring to the percentage of the DMAEMA unit) and Y = 10, 50 and 100 (referring to the percentage of quaternized amine groups). Finally, the aforementioned materials were converted into magnetic polymers by anion exchange. As a result, magnetic responses correlated well with amount of iron oxide in these compounds and the amount of ionic pending groups along the backbone. Moreover, the remaining tertiary amines conferred pH sensitivity to the polymers whereas the diazobenzene units ensured light responsiveness through the well-established trans-to-cis isomerization.In order to functionalize these materials in the pharmaceutical field, an intelligent delivery system was prepared. Firstly, an attempt to formulate riboflavin-5’-phosphate sodium (RPS) loaded on PDA8 microspheres was made using double emulsion evaporation method. Meanwhile, prednisolone (PRD) microspheres were prepared using s/o/w emulsion technique. Subsequently, coating systems of cochineal red tablets were developed. These tablets were coated with polymer solution (using each of three types of copolymers: PDA8, PDA6, and PDA4) until the desired percentage of the coating was achieved (10, 15, and 20 % w/w). The cumulative release profiles of cochineal red tablets coated with PDA8, PDA6, and PDA4 showed a pH-sensitive release behavior. The release in the neutral media (pH ≈ 7.0) was very slow (less than 3 % after one hour). Then, after changing the pH to 1.2, an increase in the release of cochineal was observed. Furthermore, the cumulative release of cochineal red was at the highest value for the PDA8 and the lowest for PDA4 depending on the percentage of PDMAEMA moieties. Moreover, by increasing the percentage of the coating from (10, 15 to 20 % w/w), the cumulative release of cochineal decreased. Therefore, the copolymer PDAX can be used for controlling the release of drug by changing the pH value.Finally, the cochineal tablets coated with PDA6 (10 %) showed features of light sensitivity. The release of cochineal red from coated tablets was only due to the switching in the conformational trans/cis isomerization of azobenzene moieties upon irradiation, which was confirmed by comparing the release of coated tablets with uncoated tablets upon irradiation.
Doctorat en Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques (Pharmacie)
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Step-growth polymerization provided an effective method for the preparation of several high performance polymers. Step-growth polymerization was used for syntheses of poly(siloxane imides), polyesters, poly(triazole esters), poly(triazole ether esters), and epoxy networks. Each of these polymeric systems exhibited novel structures, and either photoreactive capabilities, or high performance properties. There is an increasing trend towards the development of photoactive adhesives. In particular these polymers are often used in flip bonding, lithography, stimuli responsive polymers, drug delivery, and reversible adhesives. The ability to tailor polymer properties carefully with exposure to light allows for very unique stimuli responsive properties for many applications. This dissertation primarily investigates photoreactive polymers for reversible adhesion for use in the fabrication of microelectronic devices. In particular cyclobutane diimide functionality within polyimides and poly(siloxane imides) and o-nitro benzyl ester functionality within polyesters acted effectively as chromophores to this end. Thermal solution imidization allowed for the effective synthesis of polyimides and poly(siloxane imides). 1,2,3,4-Cyclobutane tetracarboxylic dianhydride acted as the chromophore within the polymer backbone. The polyimides obtained exhibited dispersibility only in dipolar, aprotic, high boiling solvents such as DMAc or NMP. The obtained poly(siloxane imides) demonstrated enhanced dispersibility in lower boiling organic solvents such as THF and CHCl3. Dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile testing effectively measure the mechanical properties of the photoactive poly(siloxane imides) and confirmed elastomeric properties. Atomic force microscopy confirmed microphase separation of the photoactive poly(siloxane imides). 1H NMR spectroscopy confirmed formation of maleimide peaks upon exposure to narrow band UV light with a wavelength of 254 nm. This suggested photo-cleavage of the cyclobutane diimide units within the polymer backbone. Melt transesterification offered a facile method for the synthesis of o-nitro benzyl ester-containing polyesters. 1H NMR spectroscopy confirmed the structures of the photoactive polyesters and size exclusion chromatography confirmed reasonable molecular weights and polydispersities of the obtained samples. 1H NMR spectroscopy also demonstrated a decrease in the integration of the resonance corresponding to the o-nitro benzyl ester functionality relative to the photo-stable m-nitro benzyl ester functionality upon exposure to high-intensity UV light, suggesting photo-degradation of the adhesive. ASTM wedge testing verified a decrease in fracture energy of the adhesive upon UV exposure, comparable to the decrease in fracture energy of a commercial hot-melt adhesive upon an increase in temperature. Click chemistry was used to synthesize polyesters and segmented block copolyesters. Triazole-containing homopolyesters exhibited a marked increase (~40 °C) in Tg, relative to structurally analogous classical polyesters synthesized in the melt. However, the triazole-containing homopolyesters exhibited insignificant dispersibility in many organic solvents and melt-pressed films exhibited poor flexibility. Incorporation of azide-functionalized poly(propylene glycol) difunctional oligomers in the synthesis of triazole-containing polyesters resulted in segmented block copolyesters which exhibited enhanced dispersibility and film robustness relative to the triazole-containing homopolyesters. The segmented triazole-containing polyesters all demonstrated a soft segment Tg near -62 °C, indicating microphase separation. Dynamic mechanical analysis confirmed the presence of a rubbery plateau, with increasing plateau moduli as a function of hard segment content, as well as increasing flow temperatures as a function of hard segment content. Tensile testing revealed increasing tensile strength as a function of hard segment, approaching 10 MPa for the 50 wt % HS sample. Atomic force microscopy confirmed the presence of microphase separated domains, as well as semicrystalline domains. These results indicated the effectiveness of click chemistry towards the synthesis of polyesters and segmented block copolyesters. Click chemistry was also used for the synthesis of photoactive polyesters and segmented block polyesters. The preparation of 2-nitro-p-xylylene glycol bispropiolate allowed for the synthesis of triazole-containing polyesters, which exhibited poor dispersibility and flexibility of melt-pressed films. The synthesis of segmented photoactive polyesters afforded photoactive polyesters with improved dispersibility and film robustness. 1H NMR spectroscopy confirmed the photodegradation of the o-nitro benzyl functional groups within the triazole-containing polyesters, which indicated the potential utility of these polyesters for reversible adhesion. Synthesis of the glycidyl ether of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-cyclobutane diol (CBDOGE) allowed for the subsequent preparation of epoxy networks which did not contain bisphenol-A or bisphenol-A derivatives. Preparation of analogous epoxy networks from the glycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (BPA-GE) provided a method for control experiments. Tensile testing demonstrated that, dependent on network Tg, the epoxy networks prepared from CBDOGE exhibited similar Youngâ s moduli and tensile strain at break as epoxy networks prepared from BPAGE. Dynamic mechanical analysis demonstrated similar glassy moduli for the epoxy networks, regardless of the glycidyl ether utilized. Tg and rubbery plateau moduli varied as a function of diamine molecular weight. Melt rheology demonstrated a gel time of 150 minutes for the preparation of epoxy networks from CBDO-GE and 78 minutes for the preparation of epoxy networks from BPA-GE, with the difference attributed to increased sterics surrounding CBDO-GE. These results indicated the suitability of CBDO-GE as a replacement for BPA-GE in many applications.
Ph. D.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
高分子科學與工程學研究所
107
In recent years, memory devices have grown rapidly with the development of electronics. In contrast to conventional inorganic memory devices, organic memory devices meet the demands of processability, low-cost, flexibility, and realize the high-density storage. Among them, the memories with OFET construction have drawn great of attentions. The study comprises four parts. Following a general introduction contains the organic memory devices, and novel type memory devices integrated with light sensing function. Among the organic memory devices, the study focuses on the organic field-effect transistor memory devices, and put emphasis on the electret layer. As for the photo-transistor memory, in the end of Chapter 1 provides an overview of the present development and strategies for photo-responsive memory. Chapter 2 presents a promising photo-responsive polymer material, Poly CD, with the conjugated, coplanar and donor-acceptor units for electrets layer uses, debuting photo-recovery behavior for polymer electret. In addition, the photo-recovery behavior mechanism and the discussion of relationships regarding to chemical structure have been proposed. The performances to photo-recorder application were included at the end of Chapter 2. To further investigate the effect of chemically structural design on the performance of photo-responsive memory, two comparative carbazole-based copolymers, composed with and without acceptor group, were prepared. Based on the experimental results, they indicated considerably different photo response properties, and suggested that the one with conjugated, donor-acceptor containing structure is much suitable for the applications to high-density storage memory and photo-recorder. Finally, Chapter 4 is the total conclusion of the study. According to the experimental results in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, the donor-acceptor moieties in the chemical structure and the conjugated parts were beneficial to the excitons dissociation and delocalization, which could promote the phenomenon of photo-induced recovery. In addition, the electrets with donor-acceptor structure could achieve the ambipolar memory behavior, realizing the high-density storage memory application.

碩士
國立臺灣科技大學
應用科技研究所
106
This work has successfully developed a multi-armed polyethylene glycol-polycaprolactone with ultrasensitive photoresponsive ability. This material can spontaneously self-assemble into nanosized micelles in aqueous solution that exhibits excellent drug-loading efficiency and adjustable drug-loading capacity, as well as the long-term stability of drug entrapment and low cytotoxicity under normal physiological conditions. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation for 10 seconds, in vitro studies show that the drug release behavior could be effectively controlled and drug-loaded micelles could be efficiently endocytosed into cancer cells, which indicates that this newly-developed micelle not only provide controlled transport / release of drug but can also potentially be applied for in vivo skin cancer treatment.

Beaucoup d'efforts dans le domaine des matériaux polymères sont déployés pour développer de nouveaux matériaux fonctionnels pour des applications spécifiques, souvent très sophistiquées, en employant des méthodes simplifiées de synthèse et de préparation. Cette thèse porte sur les polymères photosensibles – i.e. des matériaux fonctionnels qui répondent de diverses manières à la lumière – qui sont préparés à l'aide de la chimie supramoléculaire – i.e. une méthode de préparation qui repose sur l'auto-assemblage spontané de motifs moléculaires plus simples via des interactions non covalentes pour former le matériau final désiré. Deux types de matériaux photosensibles ont été ciblés, à savoir les élastomères thermoplastiques à base de copolymères à blocs (TPE) et les complexes d'homopolymères photosensibles. Les TPEs sont des matériaux bien connus, et même commercialisés, qui sont généralement composés d’un copolymère tribloc, avec un bloc central très flexible et des blocs terminaux rigides qui présentent une séparation de phase menant à des domaines durs isolés, composés des blocs terminaux rigides, dans une matrice molle formée du bloc central flexible, et ils ont l'avantage d'être recyclable. Pour la première fois, au meilleur de notre connaissance, nous avons préparé ces matériaux avec des propriétés photosensibles, basé sur la complexation supramoléculaire entre un copolymère tribloc simple parent et une petite molécule possédant une fonctionnalité photosensible via un groupe azobenzène. Plus précisément, il s’agit de la complexation ionique entre la forme quaternisée d'un copolymère à blocs, le poly(méthacrylate de diméthylaminoéthyle)-poly(acrylate de n-butyle)-poly(méthacrylate de diméthylaminoéthyle) (PDM-PnBA-PDM), synthétisé par polymérisation radicalaire par transfert d’atomes (ATRP), et l'orange de méthyle (MO), un composé azo disponible commercialement comportant un groupement SO3 -. Le PnBA possède une température de transition vitreuse en dessous de la température ambiante (-46 °C) et les blocs terminaux de PDM complexés avec le MO ont une température de transition vitreuse élevée (140-180 °C, en fonction de la masse molaire). Des tests simples d'élasticité montrent que les copolymères à blocs complexés avec des fractions massiques allant de 20 à 30% présentent un caractère élastomère. Des mesures d’AFM et de TEM (microscopie à force atomique et électronique à ii transmission) de films préparés à l’aide de la méthode de la tournette, montrent une corrélation entre le caractère élastomère et les morphologies où les blocs rigides forment une phase minoritaire dispersée (domaines sphériques ou cylindriques courts). Une phase dure continue (morphologie inversée) est observée pour une fraction massique en blocs rigides d'environ 37%, ce qui est beaucoup plus faible que celle observée pour les copolymères à blocs neutres, dû aux interactions ioniques. La réversibilité de la photoisomérisation a été démontrée pour ces matériaux, à la fois en solution et sous forme de film. La synthèse du copolymère à blocs PDM-PnBA-PDM a ensuite été optimisée en utilisant la technique d'échange d'halogène en ATRP, ainsi qu’en apportant d'autres modifications à la recette de polymérisation. Des produits monodisperses ont été obtenus à la fois pour la macroamorceur et le copolymère à blocs. À partir d'un seul copolymère à blocs parent, une série de copolymères à blocs partiellement/complètement quaternisés et complexés ont été préparés. Des tests préliminaires de traction sur les copolymères à blocs complexés avec le MO ont montré que leur élasticité est corrélée avec la fraction massique du bloc dur, qui peut être ajustée par le degré de quaternisation et de complexation. Finalement, une série de complexes d'homopolymères auto-assemblés à partir du PDM et de trois dérivés azobenzènes portant des groupes (OH, COOH et SO3) capables d'interactions directionnelles avec le groupement amino du PDM ont été préparés, où les dérivés azo sont associés avec le PDM, respectivement, via des interactions hydrogène, des liaisons ioniques combinées à une liaison hydrogène à travers un transfert de proton (acidebase), et des interactions purement ioniques. L'influence de la teneur en azo et du type de liaison sur la facilité d’inscription des réseaux de diffraction (SRG) a été étudiée. L’efficacité de diffraction des SRGs et la profondeur des réseaux inscrits à partir de films préparés à la méthode de la tournette montrent que la liaison ionique et une teneur élevée en azo conduit à une formation plus efficace des SRGs.
Much effort in the area of polymer materials involves the development of new functional materials for specific, often highly sophisticated, applications using simplified methods of synthesis and preparation. This thesis focuses on photo-responsive polymers – i.e. functional materials that respond in various ways to light – that are prepared with the aid of supramolecular chemistry – i.e. a preparation method that relies on the spontaneous selfassembly of simpler molecular building blocks via noncovalent interactions to form the final targeted material. Two types of photo-responsive materials were targeted, namely block copolymer thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) and photo-responsive homopolymer complexes. TPEs are well-known, even commercial, materials that are typically based on triblock copolymers with a highly flexible middle block and rigid outer blocks that phase separate into isolated domains of the hard, outer block phase within a matrix of the soft block phase, and they have the advantage of being recyclable. For the first time, to our knowledge, we have prepared such materials with photo-responsive properties based on supramolecular complexation between a simpler parent triblock copolymer and a small molecule possessing the photo-responsive functionality via an azobenzene group. Specifically, this involved the ionic complexation of the quaternized form of a block copolymer, poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-poly(n-butyl acrylate)-poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDM-PnBAPDM), synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), with methyl orange (MO), a commercially available SO3 --functionalized azo-containing compound. PnBA has a subambient glass transition (-46 °C) and the MO-complexed PDM outer blocks have a high glass transition (140-180 °C, depending on the molecular weight). Simple elasticity tests show that the complexed block copolymers with hard block weight fractions between about 20 and 30% have elastomeric character. AFM and TEM (atomic force and transmission electron microscopies) of spin-coated films show a correlation between the elastomeric character and morphologies where the hard block forms a dispersed minority phase (spherical and/or short cylindrical domains). A continuous hard phase (inverted morphology) is observed for a hard block content of around 37 wt %, which is much lower than found for neutral block iv copolymers due to ionic interactions. Reversible photoisomerization was demonstrated for these materials in both solution and in film form. The synthesis of the PDM-PnBA-PDM block copolymer was then optimized by using the halogen exchange technique in ATRP, along with other modifications to the polymerization recipe. Monodisperse products were obtained for both the macroiniaitor and the block copolymer. Based on a single parent block copolymer, a series of partially/fully quaternized and complexed block copolymers were prepared. Preliminary stretching tests on the MO-complexed block copolymers showed that their elasticity is correlated with the hard block content, which can be tuned by the degree of quaternization and complexation. Finally, a series of homopolymer complexes self-assembled from PDM and azobenzene derivatives bearing three different groups capable of directed interactions with the amino moiety of PDM (OH, COOH and SO3 -) were prepared, where the azo derivative associates with PDM via hydrogen-bonding interactions, by ionic bonding mixed with hydrogen bonding through proton-transfer (acid-base) interactions, and by purely ionic interactions via ion exchange procedures, respectively. The influence of the azo content and bonding type on surface relief grating (SRG) inscription was investigated. The SRG diffraction efficiencies and grating depths in spin-coated films show that ionic bonding and high azo content leads to more efficient SRG formation.

碩士
國立交通大學
應用化學系碩博士班
105
Mono- and di-triazolyphenylazoaniline modified copillar[5]arenes 40 and 41 were synthesized using 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction in five steps and with 4% overall yield, respectively. We then studied the photo- and pH-responsive properties of the supramolecular polymers that were obtained from the self-assembly of compounds 40 and 41. On the one hand, the aniline in compound 40 can be transformed into ammonium ion by adding acid, hence, the supramolecular polymerization degree of 40 can be enhanced. On the other hand, the ammonium ion state could be switched back to the neutral amine state by adding base, which reduces the degree of supramolecular polymerization. In contrast to acidified monomer 41 that precipitated in solution, neutral monomer 41 could form supramolecular polymer with the addition of dimethoxypillar[5]arene DMP5. These results were confirmed and supported by variable-concentration 1H-NMR, DOSY, NOESY, and SEM experiments. Furthermore, the cis-trans isomerization of the azo groups in compounds 40 and 41 was found to be photo-reversible as observed by UV-Vis absorption spectra; however, their polymerization degree was not affected by the cis-trans isomerization. As the concentration of monomer 40 increased from 2.5 to 75 mM, its diffusion coefficient decreased from 8.32 × 10-10 to 6.02 × 10-10 m2/s. Interestingly, after acidification of monomer 40, its diffusion coefficient decreased from 6.18 × 10-10 to 3.20 × 10-10 m2/s, signifying that the supramolecular polymerization of 40 could be enhanced by adding acid.

The possibility of using photo-stimulus to control flow in microfluidics devices is very appealing as light can provide contactless stimulation, is biocompatible and can be applied in a non-invasive and highly precise manner. One of the most popular ways to achieve photo-control flow in microfluidic channels is throughout the use of photo-responsive molecules. We review here the different principles and strategies of using photo-responsive molecules to induce or control liquid motion using light, which include the use of photo-controlled polymeric actuators, photo-sensitive coatings, or photo-sensitive surfactants. We further analyse the capability of these approaches to induce flow control throughout the photo-operation of valves, photo-control of electro-osmotic flows or photo-manipulation of discrete microliter-sized droplets.

Azobenzene polymer networks have drawn interests in the area of adaptive materials and structures due to their novel photo-responsive material coupling. These materials undergo a complex light driven molecular conformation change of the azobenzene chromophore when the material is exposed to ultraviolet (UV) or blue-green light. This photoisomerization process is characterized by a molecular conformation change from a rod shaped molecule to a strongly kinked molecule, also known as trans-cis photoisomerization under UV light exposure. Exposure to blue-green light can lead to a trans-cis-trans photoisomerization or a relaxation from the kinked cis state back to the trans rod state. The latter process is of strong interests for adaptive structure applications because the relaxation back to the trans state can be controlled by the orientation of polarized light. When these azobenzene molecules undergo this process in a polymer network, bending and twisting deformation can be controlled by the polarization orientation of the blue-green light. To better understand the distribution of the molecular conformation changes that influences macroscopic polymer deformation, we have conducted solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (ss-NMR) tests on fluorine doped azobenzene polymer networks. Here, we illustrate measurable chemical shifts due to blue light exposure near the 450 nm wavelength using a static ss-NMR probe. The results are compared to ss-NMR at different temperatures using Magic Angle Spinning (MAS) NMR to understand any potential influences of heat relative to photoisomerization.

Metamaterials are architected artificial materials engineered to exhibit properties not typically found in natural materials. Increasing attention has recently been given to mechanical metamaterials with unprecedented mechanical properties including high stiffness, strength, or/and resilience even at extremely low density. These unusual mechanical performances emerge from the three-dimensional (3D) spatial arrangement of the micro-structural elements designed to effectively distribute mechanical loads. Recent advances in additive manufacturing in micro-/nano-scale have catalyzed the growing interest in this field. This work presents a new lightweight microlattice with tunable and recoverable mechanical properties using a three-dimensionally architected shape memory polymer (SMP). SMP microlattices were fabricated utilizing our micro additive manufacturing technique called projection micro-stereolithography (PμSL), which uses a digital micro-mirror device (DMD™) as a dynamically reconfigurable photomask. We use a photo-crosslinkable and temperature-responsive SMP which can retain its large deformation until heated for spontaneous shape recovery. In addition, it exhibits remarkable elastic modulus changes during this transition. We demonstrate that mechanical responses of the micro 3D printed SMP microlattice can be reversibly tuned by temperature control. Mechanical testing result showed that stiffness of a SMP microlattice changed by two orders of magnitude by a moderate temperature shift by 60°C. Furthermore, the shape memory effect of the SMP allows for full restitution of the original shape of the microlattice upon heating even after substantial mechanical deformation. Mechanical metamaterials with lightweight, reversibly tunable properties, and shape recoverability can potentially lead to new smart structural systems that can effectively react and adapt to varying environments or unpredicted loads.