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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Preparation of Liquid Crystal Networks for Macroscopic Oscillatory Motion Induced by Light
Published on: September 20, 2017
Substituent-modulated organic single crystals with a rapid natural light photomechanical response
Zhengcheng Wang1, Lin Gao1, Qi Yu2
1College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Shandong 266071, China. gmwang_pub@163.com.
Abstract:
Light-driven organic molecular crystalline materials demonstrate promising potential in microrobotics, photo-switches, and photoactuators. In this work, we developed three α-cyanostilbene derivatives with substituents via the Knoevenagel condensation reaction. Systematic substituent modulation enabled optimization of both the crystal morphology and photomechanical responses. These crystals exhibit significantly fast response kinetics in air and water.

