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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Monitoring the Effects of Illumination on the Structure of Conjugated Polymer Gels Using Neutron Scattering
Published on: December 21, 2017
Photochemical stability of nonlinear optical chromophores in polymeric and crystalline materials
Daniele Rezzonico1, Seong-Ji Kwon, Harry Figi
1Nonlinear Optics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland. nlo@phys.ethz.ch
Abstract:
We compare the photochemical stability of the nonlinear optical chromophore configurationally locked polyene 2-{3-[2-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)vinyl]-5,5-dimethylcyclohex-2-enylidene} malononitrile (DAT2) embedded in a polymeric matrix and in a single-crystalline configuration. The results show that, under resonant light excitations, the polymeric compound degrades through an indirect process, while the DAT2 crystal follows a slow direct process. We show that chromophores in a crystalline environment exhibit three orders of magnitude better photostability as compared to guest-host polymer composites.
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