Synthesis and Characterization of Naphthalene‐Based Banana‐Shaped Liquid Crystals for Photoswitching Properties |
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Authors: | Md Lutfor Rahman Mashitah Mohd Yusoff Gurumurthy Hegde Muhammad Nor Fazli Abdul Malek Nurlin Abu Samah H. T. Srinivasa Sandeep Kumar |
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Affiliation: | 1. Faculty of Industrial Sciences & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26300 Gambang, Kuantan, Malaysia;2. Raman Research Institute, C.V. Raman Avenue, Sadashivanagar, Bangalore 560080, India |
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Abstract: | A series of banana‐shaped monomers containing naphthalene as central units, azobenzene in side arms with terminal alkenes were synthesized and characterized. Polarizing optical microscopy, DSC and X‐ray diffraction measurements reveal that one compound processes a nematic phase while other four compounds exhibit B6 phase. The absorption spectrum of trans‐azobenzene displays high‐intensity π‐π* transition at 365 and low‐intensity n‐π* transition at 450 nm. These molecules exhibit strong photoisomerisation behaviour in solutions in which trans to cis isomerisation takes 55 seconds whereas reverse process takes about 32 hours. Such a long thermal back relaxation is useful for creation of optical image storage devices. |
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Keywords: | Naphthalene Azobenzene Isomerisation Photoswitching Optical image storage |
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