title: Azophenol-based liquid-crystalline elastomers for light-driven actuators.
abstract: Para-substituted azophenols exhibit a fast thermal cis-to-trans isomerization rate in ethanol, which can be transferred to the solid state by obtaining liquid-crystalline elastomeric systems. The absence of protic solvent is compensated by the establishment of hydrogen bonding between azophenol monomers that are close to each other. Opto-mechanical experiments reveal that azophenol-containing liquid single-crystal elastomers are valuable materials for light-controlled actuators exhibiting relaxation times of 1 s at room temperature.
authors.affiliation: Grup de Materials Orgànics, Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia, Departament de Química Orgànica, Universitat de Barcelona , Martí i Franqués 1-11, E-08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia-Amorós
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piñol
authors.forename: Heino
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Finkelmann
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Velasco