Organic Nanofibers Embedding Stimuli-Responsive Threaded Molecular Components

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• 作者：Vito Fasano ; Massimo Baroncini ; Maria Moffa ; Donata Iandolo ; Andrea Camposeo ; Alberto Credi ; Dario Pisignano
• 刊名：Journal of the American Chemical Society
• 出版年：2014
• 出版时间：October 8, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：136
• 期：40
• 页码：14245-14254
• 全文大小：698K
• ISSN：1520-5126

文摘

While most of the studies on molecular machines have been performed in solution, interfacing these supramolecular systems with solid-state nanostructures and materials is very important in view of their utilization in sensing components working by chemical and photonic actuation. Host polymeric materials, and particularly polymer nanofibers, enable the manipulation of the functional molecules constituting molecular machines and provide a way to induce and control the supramolecular organization. Here, we present electrospun nanocomposites embedding a self-assembling rotaxane-type system that is responsive to both optical (UV鈥搗is light) and chemical (acid/base) stimuli. The system includes a molecular axle comprised of a dibenzylammonium recognition site and two azobenzene end groups and a dibenzo[24]crown-8 molecular ring. The dethreading and rethreading of the molecular components in nanofibers induced by exposure to base and acid vapors, as well as the photoisomerization of the azobenzene end groups, occur in a similar manner to what observed in solution. Importantly, however, the nanoscale mechanical function following external chemical stimuli induces a measurable variation of the macroscopic mechanical properties of nanofibers aligned in arrays, whose Young鈥檚 modulus is significantly enhanced upon dethreading of the axles from the rings. These composite nanosystems show therefore great potential for application in chemical sensors, photonic actuators, and environmentally responsive materials.