Department of Advance Materials Engineering for Information and Electronics, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-shi, Gyeonggi-do 446-701, Korea.
Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8552, Japan and Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute, 41-1 Yokomichi, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1192, Japan.
Soft Matter. 2016 Sep 28;12(38):7937-7942. doi: 10.1039/c6sm01343k.
We found possible chirality enhancement and reduction in chiral domains formed by photoresponsive W-shaped molecules by irradiation with circularly polarized light (CPL). The W-shaped molecules exhibit a unique smectic phase with spontaneously segregated chiral domains, although the molecules are nonchiral. The chirality control was generated in the crystalline phase, which shows chiral segregation as in the upper smectic phase, and the result appeared to be as follows: for a certain chiral domain, right-CPL stimuli enhanced the chirality, while left-CPL stimuli reduced the chirality, and vice versa for another chiral domain. Interestingly, no domain-size change could be observed after CPL irradiation, suggesting some changes in the causes of chirality. In this way, the present system can recognize the handedness of the applied chiral stimuli. In other words, the present material can be used as a sensitive chiral-stimuli-recognizing material and should find invaluable applications, including in chiroptical switches, sensors, and memories as well as in chiral recognition.
我们发现，通过圆偏振光（CPL）的辐照，光响应 W 形分子形成的手性畴中可能存在手性增强和手性降低。尽管这些分子是非手性的，但 W 形分子表现出独特的近晶相，其中自发分离出手性畴。手性控制是在结晶相中产生的，它表现出与上近晶相相同的手性分离，结果如下：对于某个手性畴，右圆偏振光刺激增强了手性，而左圆偏振光刺激降低了手性，反之亦然。有趣的是，CPL 辐照后观察不到畴尺寸的变化，这表明手性的产生原因发生了某些变化。通过这种方式，本系统可以识别所施加的手性刺激的手性。换句话说，本材料可用作灵敏的手性刺激识别材料，并且应该在包括光开关、传感器和存储器以及手性识别在内的各个领域具有非常宝贵的应用价值。
