title: Light-Driven Reversible Shaping of Individual Azopolymeric Micro-Pillars.
abstract: Azopolymers are known to exhibit a strong light responsivity known as athermal photofluidization. Although the underlying physics is still under debate, athermal photofluidization has been demonstrated to trigger mass-migration according to the polarization of a proper illumination light. Here, a polymer blend is proposed wherein a commercial azo-polyelectrolyte is mixed with a passive polymer. The blend is patterned as an array of micro-pillars that are individually exposed to visible laser illumination. Thanks to the interplay between the two blend components, a reversible and controlled deformation of the micro-pillars by periodically tuning the laser polarization in time is demonstrated. A reduced mobility of the azo-compound allows to repeatibly elongate and rotate micro-pillars along specific directions, with no significant material flow outisde the initial volume and no significant degradation of the structure morphology over several cycles. The proposed work suggests new degrees of freedom in controlling the mechanical features of micro-patterned light-responsive materials that can be usefully exploited in many application fields.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino IT-10129, Italy.|Center for Space Human Robotics@Polito, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, C.so Trento 21,10129 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pirani
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino IT-10129, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angelini
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino IT-10129, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frascella
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino IT-10129, Italy.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino IT-10129, Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ricciardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino IT-10129, Italy.
authors.forename: Emiliano
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Descrovi