Morphological Transitions of a Photoswitchable Aramid Amphiphile Nanostructure
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2021_Kim_NanoLett.pdf
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Accepted version
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Author(s)
Kim, Dae-Yoon
Christoff-Tempesta, Ty
Lamour, Guillaume
Zuo, Xiaobing
Ryu, Ki-Hyun
Ortony, Julia H
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Nano Letters
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Citation
Kim, Dae-Yoon, Christoff-Tempesta, Ty, Lamour, Guillaume, Zuo, Xiaobing, Ryu, Ki-Hyun et al. 2021. "Morphological Transitions of a Photoswitchable Aramid Amphiphile Nanostructure." Nano Letters, 21 (7).
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Self-assembly of small amphiphilic molecules in water can lead to nanostructures of varying geometries with pristine internal molecular organization. Here we introduce a photoswitchable aramid amphiphile (AA), designed to exhibit extensive hydrogen bonding and robust mechanical properties upon self-assembly, while containing a vinylnitrile group for photoinduced cis-trans isomerization. We demonstrate spontaneous self-assembly of the vinylnitrile-containing AA in water to form nanoribbons. Upon UV irradiation, trans-to-cis isomerizations occur concomitantly with a morphological transition from nanoribbons to nanotubes. The nanotube structure persists in water for over six months, stabilized by strong and collective intermolecular interactions. We demonstrate that the nanoribbon-to-nanotube transition is reversible upon heating and that switching between states can be achieved repeatedly. Finally, we use electron microscopy to capture the transition and propose mechanisms for nanoribbon-to-nanotube rearrangement and vice versa. The stability and switchability of photoresponsive AA nanostructures make them viable for a range of future applications.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1021/ACS.NANOLETT.0C05048
