From the inside out or from the outside in? Two photoswitchable foldamers that incorporate azobenzene moieties as the energy-acceptor units have been designed. The pathway of helix unfolding can be controlled by localizing these photoinduced triggers (shown in red) either at the core (left) or at the termini (right) of the helix.

Unlike classical covalent polymers, one-dimensionally (1D) elongated supramolecular polymers (SPs) can be encoded with high degrees of internal order by the cooperative aggregation of molecular subunits, which endows these SPs with extraordinary properties and functions. However, this internal order has not yet been exploited to generate and dynamically control well-defined higher-order (second...

Photochromic switches that are able to transmit information in a quick fashion have attracted a growing interest within materials science during the last few decades. Although very fast photochromic switching materials working within hundreds of nanoseconds based on other chromophores, such as spiropyranes, have been successfully achieved, reaching such fast relaxation times for azobenzene-base...

The synthesis of photoswitchable glycooligomers is presented by applying solid-phase polymer synthesis and functional building blocks. The obtained glycoligands are monodisperse and present azobenzene moieties as well as sugar ligands at defined positions within the oligomeric backbone and side chains, respectively. We show that the combination of molecular precision together with the photoswit...

In this study, the adsorption of 4-hydroxy phenyl-azobenzene on the surface of (4, 0) zigzag open-end boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) has been investigated by quantum calculations. In order to find the preferred adsorption site, different positions and orientations were considered. The impacts of donor-acceptor electron delocalization on the structural and electronic properties and reactivity of ...

Immobilization of an azobenzene-bithiophene compound on a gold surface leads to self-assembled monolayers with photoswitchable electrical properties.

Co-assembly of ditopic perylene bisimide and azobenzene-functionalized melamine occurs with an unconventional stoichiometric ratio, providing well-defined nanostructures with a helically-coiled architecture where perylene chromophores are packed in desirable J-type arrangements.

Insight into the mechanism of photoswitchable foldamer denaturation was gained by incorporating two azobenzene switching units (see figure; orange) into the helix backbone. Optimizing the location of the units leads to cooperative photoisomerization events, causing complete unfolding. The switching cooperativity coupled with the cooperative unfolding transition enables the design of highly phot...

In this study, the adsorption of 4-hydroxy phenyl-azobenzene on the surface of (4, 0) zigzag open-end boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) has been investigated by quantum calculations. In order to find the preferred adsorption site, different positions and orientations were considered. The impacts of donor-acceptor electron delocalization on the structural and electronic properties and reactivity of ...

The electronic and structural properties of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) interacted with 4-amino phenyl-azobenzene were theoretically investigated by using the hybrid DFT (hybrid-density functional theory) calculations. The amount of thermodynamic parameters of this reaction in the gas and aqueous phase suggesting thermodynamic favourability for adsorption of 4-amino phenyl-azobenzene ...