Photoresponsive α-cyanostilbene-containing fluorescent liquid crystal polymers based on ring-opening metathesis polymerization for information storage and encryption

Photoresponsive polymer materials have attracted great interest because of their prospective applications in sensors, actuators, and smart devices. Here, a photoresponsive fluorescent liquid crystal polymer (LCP) was constructed by the copolymerization of one LC monomer (CH) and another fluorescent monomer containing alpha-cyanostilbene units (TP) through the ring-opening metathesis polymerization, designated as PCHTP. PCHTP has excellent mechanical properties and can be processed by simple chemical solvents or melting. The ordered arrangement of LC molecules in the PCHTP film is controlled by the photoinduced alignment technique, resulting in a highly polarized emission pattern at the macroscopic scale. In addition, the luminescence intensity of the PCHTP fibers and films can be tuned upon visible and UV light irradiations by exploiting Z/E photoisomerization of alpha-cyanostilbene units. Finally, the dual-mode emission pattern with polarization luminescence and tunable photoluminescence was presented in the PCHTP film for information storage and encoding applications. This strategy provides a versatile platform for information storage and encoding using the photoresponsive fluores-cent LCPs.

Automated summary

Photoresponsive fluorescent liquid crystal polymers with excellent mechanical properties and controlled molecular alignment have been synthesized in this study. The highly polarized emission pattern and tunable photoluminescence of the polymer are achieved by photoinduced alignment and Z/E photoisomerization. This versatile polymer material shows great potential for information storage and encoding applications.