Fluorescent aggregates of 1-(p-butyloxyphenyl)-4-(p-cyanophenyl)buta-1E,3E-diene: temperature sensing and photoimaging applications.

The use of fluorescent solid films of a 1-(p-butyloxyphenyl)-4-(p-cyanophenyl)buta-1E, 3E-diene as an efficient temperature sensor is described. The fluorescence changes in these films are proposed to occur due to a reversible temperature-dependent variation in its monomer-aggregate ratio. Photoisomerization of the butadiene chromophore in solid films was observed to occur only at elevated temperatures (>120 degrees C), making the material also useful for reversible photochemical generation of fluorescence patterns with nondestructive readout properties.