Influence of temperature and composition on the mesoscopic textures of azobenzene Langmuir monolayers

The monolayer behavior of the azobenzene derivative 8Az3COOH is shown to depend significatively on temperature and on the isomeric (trans-cis) composition. For pure trans monolayers, important temperature effects in the mesoscopic organization (as revealed by means of Brewster angle microscopy, BAM) are observed for the low-pressure phase in the studied temperature range (10 degrees C < T < 40 degrees C). Mixed trans-cis monolayers show that both isomers are virtually immiscible, leading to a phase segregation into birefringent, nearly pure trans droplets surrounded by an isotropic, nearly pure cis matrix. The existence of well-defined anchoring conditions at the droplet boundaries leads to highly symmetric textures, amenable of quantitative BAM image analysis, which helps to better visualize mesoscopic changes induced by variations in the control parameters (temperature, surface pressure or irradiation).