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Updated: Oct 20, 2025

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
Stimuli-Responsive Supramolecular Polymers from Amphiphilic Phosphodiester-Linked Azobenzene Trimers
Oleh Vybornyi1, Shi-Xia Liu1, Robert Häner1
1Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
Abstract:
An amphiphilic phosphodiester-linked azobenzene trimer has been exploited in the development of stimuli-responsive, water-soluble supramolecular polymers. The trimer can reversibly undergo thermal and photoisomerization between Z- and E-isomers. Its self-assembly properties in aqueous medium have been investigated by spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, demonstrating that E- and Z-azobenzene trimers form supramolecular nanosheets and toroidal nanostructures, respectively. By virtue of the E/Z photoisomerization of the azobenzene units, the two different supramolecular morphologies can be switched by photoirradiation. The findings pave a way towards stimuli-responsive, water-soluble supramolecular polymers which hold great promise in the development of smart functional materials.
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