Ryabchun Alexander, Lancia Federico, Chen Jiawen, Morozov Dmitry, Feringa Ben L, Katsonis Nathalie
Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 8, Groningen, 9747 AG, The Netherlands.
Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
Adv Mater. 2020 Nov;32(47):e2004420. doi: 10.1002/adma.202004420. Epub 2020 Oct 18.
Unravelling the rules of molecular motion is a contemporary challenge that promises to support the development of responsive materials and is likely to enhance the understanding of functional motion. Advances in integrating light-driven molecular motors in soft matter have led to the design and realization of chiral nematic (cholesteric) liquid crystals that can respond to light with modification of their helical pitch, and also with helix inversion. Under illumination, these chiral liquid crystals convert from one helical geometry to another. Here, a series of light-driven molecular motors that feature a rich configurational landscape is presented, specifically which involves three stable chiral states. The succession of chiral structures involved in the motor cycle is transmitted at higher structural levels, as the cholesteric liquid crystals that are formed can interconvert between helices of opposite handedness, reversibly. In these materials, the dynamic features of the motors are thus expressed at the near-macroscopic, functional level, into addressable colors that can be used in advanced materials for tunable optics and photonics.
揭示分子运动规律是一项当代挑战，有望为响应性材料的发展提供支持，并可能增进对功能运动的理解。将光驱动分子马达集成到软物质中的进展，已促成了手性向列（胆甾型）液晶的设计与实现，这种液晶能够通过改变螺旋间距以及螺旋反转来响应光。在光照下，这些手性液晶从一种螺旋几何结构转变为另一种。在此，展示了一系列具有丰富构型景观的光驱动分子马达，具体涉及三种稳定的手性状态。由于所形成的胆甾型液晶能够在相反手性的螺旋之间可逆地相互转换，马达循环中涉及的手性结构序列在更高结构层次上得以传递。在这些材料中，马达的动态特性因此在近宏观的功能层面上表现为可寻址的颜色，可用于可调谐光学和光子学的先进材料中。
