According to Mehr news agency, quoted from IerestingEngineeringA group of Japanese researchers have inveed a supermolecular polymer system are which turns io one, two or three-dimensional structures by adjusting the light iensity. University researchers Chiba They believe that this developme will lead to the developme of a new generation of smart materials with high adaptability. The curre material generally follows the figure getremain consta.
In this research, a non-biological system is displayed that its structure or state Based on It receives and changes the amou of energy that is similar to living organisms. The aforemeioned research aims at the main challenge in material science, i.e. the creation of molecular assemblies out of equilibrium, or more precisely, structures that exist outside of their thermodynamic stable state.
Although previous research achieved such situations using external energy, few systems could respond adaptively to the amou of energy input.
professor chicYagai in this load says: Our researchers have long ago conducted a unique research with the aim of corolling the shapes and structures of molecular assemblies at the nanoscale to mesoscale They follow using light. But uil now, we have not noticed the out-of-equilibrium system, which is very similar to living organisms, and the structure or state of dignity changes according to the amou of energy received.
This innovation lies in a specially designed molecule that is a single unitAzobenzene“Light sensitive with a core”Murosianin Acid based Barbituric“combines This unique combination results in polymorphic materials supramolecular (supramolecular polymorphism), which is the ability to form differe assembly structures, which is activated and corolled by light.
At first, syhetic molecules are automatically in the state Nanofibers They form a spiral dimension. when When exposed to ambie light without manipulation, they naturally transform io two-dimensional nanosheets that are more thermodynamically stable. At this poi, the magic of light iensity begins.
whennanosheetHi Two dimensions were exposed to ultraviolet light, the researchers observed a drastic reversal. In this state of matter to state Nanofiber One-dimensional linear regression.
High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) showed this change due to Isomerization unit light Azobenzene occurred, which in turn disrupted the hydrogen bonds that held the two-dimensional sheets together.
Ierestingly, these changes while It happened that some specific aspects of the nanocrystals were more exposed to light. More ierestingly, when they were exposed to weak UV light, the system took a completely differe path. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and AFM observations showed nanosheetHi smaller separated, while nanosheetHi The larger ones started to grow vertically and formed complex three-dimensional nanocrystals.
This research provides opportunities to produce a new generation of smart materials, from self-healing surfaces to dynamic sensors and adaptive drug delivery systems and energy harvesting technologies that can respond to the environme.
