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Photoaligning Polymeric Command Surfaces: Bind, or Mix?
Ameer R K Nassrah1,2, Marianna Batkova3, Natália Tomašovičová3
1Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, P.O. Box 49, H-1525 Budapest, Hungary.
Abstract:
We compare photoaligning properties of polymer layers fabricated from the same constituents: polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and azo-dye Disperse Red 1 (DR1), either chemically attached to the PMMA main-chain, or physically mixed with it. Photoaligning properties depend on the preparation method drastically. Photoalignment was found to be far more efficient when PMMA is functionalized with DR1 compared to the case of physically mixing the constituents. This finding is supported by atomic force microscope (AFM) scans monitoring the light-induced changes at the polymer-air interface, and revealing a photoinduced mass transfer, especially in the case of functionalized PMMA.
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