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A photoresponsive azobenzene-bridged cubic silsesquioxane network

  • Original Paper: Sol-gel, hybrids and solution chemistries
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Abstract

An azobenzene (AZO)-bridged cubic silsesquioxane network exhibiting reversible photoisomerization behavior in nonpolar solvents has been prepared via hydrosilylation reaction between 4,4′-diallyloxy-azobenzene and octahydridosilsesquioxane (H8Si8O12; H-POSS). Approximately 70 % of the corner Si–H groups of H-POSS are reacted to form a three-dimensional gel network while maintaining the cubic siloxane structure. The dried gel has a high thermal stability, which is attributed to the highly cross-linked cubic silsesquioxane network where AZOs are covalently incorporated in the main chain. The gel exhibits reversible swelling behavior in nonpolar solvents during wetting–drying cycles. In toluene, a large extent of reversible trans–cis isomerization of the AZO moiety is observed. These results are promising for the design of a new class of photoresponsive materials applicable in host–guest chemistry.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas ‘New Polymeric Materials Based on Element-Blocks (No. 2401)’ provided by The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical System Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Sufang Guo & Tatsuya Okubo

  2. Kagami Memorial Research Institute for Materials Science and Technology, Waseda University, 2-8-26 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-0051, Japan

    Sufang Guo & Kazuyuki Kuroda

  3. Department of Applied Chemistry, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Ohkubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan

    Kazuyuki Kuroda & Atsushi Shimojima

Authors
  1. Sufang Guo
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  2. Tatsuya Okubo
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  4. Atsushi Shimojima
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Correspondence to Atsushi Shimojima.

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Guo, S., Okubo, T., Kuroda, K. et al. A photoresponsive azobenzene-bridged cubic silsesquioxane network. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 79, 262–269 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-016-4074-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-016-4074-4

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