Thermally stable azobenzene dyes through hybridization with POSS

Azobenzene (AB) dyes have been widely applied in organic devices owing to their interesting photo-isomerization properties. Their application for higher temperature usage is limited, however, due to their intrinsically poor thermal stability. Here we show a facile way to significantly enhance the thermal stability of azobenzene dyes without perceptibly affecting their photophysical properties. Through coupling with inorganic core structured polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), the obtained hybrid POSS-AB exhibited significant enhancement of thermal stability with decomposition temperature up to 350 degrees C, about 177.4 degrees C increase in T-d compared to free azobenzene. Application of the hybrid as photo-switching polymer nanocomposites thin film was demonstrated. The interesting self-assembly properties of POSS-AB will also be discussed in this paper.