Photo-orientation of Mesoporous Silica Thin Films on Photocrosslinkable Polymer Films

摘要

A versatile photoaligning and patterning method of mesoporous materials is proposed using a photocrosslinkable liquid-crystal polymer film containing a cinnamoyl unit. When compared to the previous photoa-ligning process using a photoisomerizable azobenzene layer, two marked practical improvements are achieved: ⅰ) simplification of the process, and ⅱ) improved stability, and thus the quality and transparent properties of the resultant mesoporous silica films have improved. Such great improvements are of particular importance for the fabrication of optical devices based on the incorporation of functional dyes or metal clusters into the mesochannels. We anticipate that the method presented here will find new opportunities for applications in mesoporous materials.