Sakinah Mohd Alauddin1,2, Nurul Fadhilah Kamalul Aripin1,2, Thamil Selvi Velayutham2,3, Alfonso Martinez-Felipe4. 1. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam 40450, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. 2. Fundamental and Frontier Sciences in Nanostructure Self-Assembly Center, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia. 3. Low Dimensional Material Research Center, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia. 4. Chemical and Materials Engineering Research Group, School of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Old Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK.
Abstract
In the search for novel smart multifunctional liquid crystalline materials, we report the synthesis, thermal and structural characterisation, and the conductivity, of a set of new block and statistical copolymers, containing light-responsive mesogenic groups (MeOAzB), polar sulfonic acids (AMPS), and methyl(methacrylate) groups (MMA). By using a cascade of reversible addition-fragmentation chain polymerisations, RAFT, we have tailored different side-chain polymeric structures by controlling monomer composition (MeOAzB/AMPS/MMA) and configuration. We have yielded simultaneous liquid crystalline behaviour and appreciable conductivity in polymers with low concentrations of polar acid groups, by the formation of smectic phases in narrow aggregates. The light-responsiveness of the polymers, via reversible trans-to-cis photoisomerization of azobenzene groups, and the local activation of conductivity at relatively low temperatures, opens the possibility to prepare polymer electrolytes for energy conversion and storage, whose conductivity could be controlled and optimised by external stimuli, including light irradiation.
In the search for novel smart multifunctional liquid crystalline materials, we report the synthesis, thermal and structural characterisation, and the conductivity, of a set of new block and statistical pan class="Chemical">copolymers, containing light-responsive mesogenic groups (pan class="Chemical">MeOAzB), polar sulfonic acids (AMPS), and methyl(methacrylate) groups (MMA). By using a cascade of reversible addition-fragmentation chain polymerisations, RAFT, we have tailored different side-chain polymeric structures by controlling monomer composition (MeOAzB/AMPS/MMA) and configuration. We have yielded simultaneous liquid crystalline behaviour and appreciable conductivity in polymers with low concentrations of polar acid groups, by the formation of smectic phases in narrow aggregates. The light-responsiveness of the polymers, via reversible trans-to-cis photoisomerization of azobenzene groups, and the local activation of conductivity at relatively low temperatures, opens the possibility to prepare polymer electrolytes for energy conversion and storage, whose conductivity could be controlled and optimised by external stimuli, including light irradiation.
Authors: Anshul Sharma; Abdollah Neshat; Cory J Mahnen; Alek D Nielsen; Jacob Snyder; Tory L Stankovich; Benjamin G Daum; Emily M LaSpina; Gabrielle Beltrano; Yunxiang Gao; Shuo Li; Byung-Wook Park; Robert J Clements; Ernest J Freeman; Christopher Malcuit; Jennifer A McDonough; LaShanda T J Korley; Torsten Hegmann; Elda Hegmann Journal: Macromol Biosci Date: 2014-10-10 Impact factor: 4.979