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Reversible CO2-, Photo- and Thermo- Triple Responsive Supramolecular Chirality of Azo-containing Block Copolymer Assemblies Prepared by Polymerization-induced Chiral Self-assembly

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Abstract

Polymerization-induced chiral self-assembly (PICSA) is an efficient strategy that not only allows the construction of the supramolecular chiral assemblies in a controlled manner but also can regulate the morphology in situ. Herein, a series of azobenzene-containing block copolymer (Azo-BCP) assemblies with tunable morphologies and supramolecular chirality were obtained through the PICSA strategy. The supramolecular chirality of Azo-BCP assemblies could be regulated by carbon dioxide (CO2) stimulus, and completely recovered by bubbling with Ar. A reversible morphology transformation and chiroptical switching process could also be achieved by the alternative 365 nm UV light irradiation and heating-cooling treatment. Moreover, the supramolecular chirality is thermo-responsive and a reversible chiral-achiral switching was successfully realized, which can be reversibly repeated for at least five times. This work provides a feasible strategy for constructing triple stimuli-responsive supramolecular chiral nano-objects in situ.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 92056111 and 21971180), Nature Science Key Basic Research of Jiangsu Province for Higher Education (No. 19KJA360006), Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (No. KYCX20_2655) and the Priority Academic Program Development (PAPD) of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions supported this work. Prof. W. Zhang thanks Mr. J. Z. Wang in University of Waterloo for English editing.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Design and Application, State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Ya-Jing Sun, Xiao-Xiao Cheng, Teng-Fei Miao, Hao-Tian Ma, Wei Zhang & Xiu-Lin Zhu

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  1. Ya-Jing Sun
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  2. Xiao-Xiao Cheng
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Correspondence to Wei Zhang.

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The authors declare no competing financial interest.

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10118_2021_2647_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Reversible CO2-, Photo- and Thermal Triple Responsive Supramolecular Chirality of Azo-containing Block Copolymer Assemblies Prepared by Polymerization-induced chiral Self-assembly

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Sun, YJ., Cheng, XX., Miao, TF. et al. Reversible CO2-, Photo- and Thermo- Triple Responsive Supramolecular Chirality of Azo-containing Block Copolymer Assemblies Prepared by Polymerization-induced Chiral Self-assembly. Chin J Polym Sci 40, 56–66 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-021-2647-3

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