Photocontrollable supramolecular materials formed by cyclodextrins and azobenzene polymers

Abstract

Today, stimuli-responsive materials are paid much attention by researchers all over the world because they can be used in a very wide range of fields, such as drug delivery systems, sensor systems, actuators and so on. Although various stimuli-responsive materials including supramolecular structures were reported, there are only a few reports about photoresponsive supramolecular materials. One kind of a successful photoresponsive material is the photoresponsive organogel formed by using low molecular weight gelaters (LMWGs). In this research, we present new photoresponsive supramolecular materials by mixing cyclodextrin modified host polymers and azobenzene modified guest polymers. Moreover, we report a new photoswitchable hydrogel including carbon nanotubes. ©2011, The Society of Polymer Science Japan.