Photoresponsive Liquid Crystalline
Polymers
15
Xiao Li and Haifeng Yu
Contents
Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Photoreaction and Photoresponsive Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Homopolymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymers (LCBCs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
Crosslinked LC Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
Composite LC Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Conclusion and Outlooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Abstract
Light is external stimuli which is clean and highly accessible and can be precisely
manipulated. Due to the fascinating photoinduced changes from molecular to
nano- and macroscopic scales, photoresponsive liquid crystalline polymers
(LCPs) have attracted wide interests in the fields of stimuli-responsive materials,
soft robotics, biomaterials, nanotechnology and photonic devices, and so on. This
entry mainly focuses on the booming researches related to photoresponsive LCPs,
especially azobenzene-containing LCPs. First, the definition and photochemical
properties are clarified. Then, recent advances on intriguing light-responsive
behaviors of azobenzene-containing LCPs are introduced in terms of homopolymers, block copolymers, crosslinked LC systems, composite LC systems, and
supramolecular liquid crystalline polymers. These photoinduced behaviors
include molecular cooperative motion, nanoscale self-assembled photoX. Li · H. Yu (*)
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Key Laboratory of
Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
e-mail: lixiao@pku.edu.cn; yuhaifeng@pku.edu.cn
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L. Zhu, C. Y. Li (eds.), Liquid Crystalline Polymers, Polymers and Polymeric
Composites: A Reference Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43350-5_60
417
Polymers
15
Xiao Li and Haifeng Yu
Contents
Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Photoreaction and Photoresponsive Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Homopolymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymers (LCBCs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
Crosslinked LC Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
Composite LC Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Conclusion and Outlooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Abstract
Light is external stimuli which is clean and highly accessible and can be precisely
manipulated. Due to the fascinating photoinduced changes from molecular to
nano- and macroscopic scales, photoresponsive liquid crystalline polymers
(LCPs) have attracted wide interests in the fields of stimuli-responsive materials,
soft robotics, biomaterials, nanotechnology and photonic devices, and so on. This
entry mainly focuses on the booming researches related to photoresponsive LCPs,
especially azobenzene-containing LCPs. First, the definition and photochemical
properties are clarified. Then, recent advances on intriguing light-responsive
behaviors of azobenzene-containing LCPs are introduced in terms of homopolymers, block copolymers, crosslinked LC systems, composite LC systems, and
supramolecular liquid crystalline polymers. These photoinduced behaviors
include molecular cooperative motion, nanoscale self-assembled photoX. Li · H. Yu (*)
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Key Laboratory of
Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China
e-mail: lixiao@pku.edu.cn; yuhaifeng@pku.edu.cn
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
L. Zhu, C. Y. Li (eds.), Liquid Crystalline Polymers, Polymers and Polymeric
Composites: A Reference Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43350-5_60
417