Ho Jhih-Hao, Shih Tsung-Wei, Liu Chih-Ting, He Hung-Chieh, Lin Yu-Liang, Lee Lin-Ruei, Lin Kuan-Ting, Tseng Yu-Hsuan, Sugiyama Teruki, Chen Jiun-Tai
Department of Applied Chemistry, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, 30010, Taiwan.
Center for Emergent Functional Matter Science, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, 30010, Taiwan.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2021 May;42(9):e2000723. doi: 10.1002/marc.202000723. Epub 2021 Feb 4.
Ordered arrays of polymer nanostructures have been widely investigated because of their promising applications such as solar-cell devices, sensors, and supercapacitors. It remains a great challenge, however, to manipulate the shapes of individual nanostructures in arrays for tailoring specific properties. In this study, an effective strategy to prepare anisotropic polymer nanopillar arrays via photo-fluidization is presented. Azobenzene-containing polymers (azopolymers) are first infiltrated into the nanopores of ordered anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. After the removal of the AAO templates using weak bases, azopolymer nanopillar arrays can be prepared. Upon exposure of linearly polarized lights, azobenzene groups in the azopolymers undergo trans-cis-trans photoisomerization, causing mass migration and elongation of the nanopillar along with the polarization directions. As a result, anisotropic nanopillar arrays can be fabricated, of which the deformation degrees are controlled by the illumination times. Furthermore, patterned nanopillar arrays can also be constructed with designed photomasks. This work presents a practical and versatile strategy to fabricate arrays of anisotropic nanostructures for future technical applications.
聚合物纳米结构的有序阵列因其在太阳能电池器件、传感器和超级电容器等方面的应用前景而受到广泛研究。然而，要操控阵列中单个纳米结构的形状以定制特定性能仍然是一项巨大挑战。在本研究中，提出了一种通过光流化制备各向异性聚合物纳米柱阵列的有效策略。首先将含偶氮苯的聚合物（偶氮聚合物）渗入有序阳极氧化铝（AAO）模板的纳米孔中。使用弱碱去除AAO模板后，即可制备偶氮聚合物纳米柱阵列。在受到线偏振光照射时，偶氮聚合物中的偶氮苯基团会发生反式-顺式-反式光异构化，导致纳米柱沿偏振方向发生质量迁移和伸长。结果，可以制造出各向异性的纳米柱阵列，其变形程度由光照时间控制。此外，还可以使用设计好的光掩模构建图案化的纳米柱阵列。这项工作为未来技术应用制造各向异性纳米结构阵列提供了一种实用且通用的策略。
