Mechanically Elastic and Light-Induced Bending of Acylhydrazone-Based Photoswitch Crystal

We synthesized a dual mechanical responsiveacylhydrazone-basedcrystal Ac which shows mechanical elasticity and light-inducedphotomechanical bending with photoswitching response. Two differentmechanical responses by two external stimuli were investigated indetail and correlated with underlying packing features. Here, we report long acicular acylhydrazone crystals(Ac) derived from 4-nitro benzhydrazide and 10-chloro-9-anthraldehyde.The crystal exhibited dual mechanical responses such as stress-inducedelastic and light-induced photomechanical bending. Further, the crystalexhibits excellent photoswitching and thermal reversible behavioras well. Detailed investigation revealed structure-propertycorrelation in crystal Ac. Additionally, it has beenobserved that stimuli-responsive mechanical properties were uniqueand not interlinked with each other. With the help of the crystalengineering approach, synergistic mechanical responses can be gainfullycombined toward applications in multitasking single-crystal actuators.

Automated summary

We synthesized a dual mechanical responsive acylhydrazone-based crystal Ac that exhibits mechanical elasticity and light-induced photomechanical bending with photoswitching response. Two different mechanical responses were investigated and correlated with underlying packing features. The long acicular crystal Ac derived from 4-nitro benzhydrazide and 10-chloro-9-anthraldehyde shows stress-induced elastic and light-induced photomechanical bending, as well as excellent photoswitching and thermal reversible behavior. Structure-property correlation in the crystal Ac was revealed, and the unique stimuli-responsive mechanical properties were not interlinked with each other. The crystal engineering approach allows for the combination of synergistic mechanical responses for applications in multitasking single-crystal actuators.