A photosensitive fluorinated ionic complex with tunable surface wetting properties: mesostructure and photosensitivity

Through an ionic self-assembly approach, a photosensitive complex was prepared by attaching two different matching anions, photoresponsive units of methyl orange (MO) and perfluorinated dodecanoic acid (FDA), to a poly(ionic liquid) backbone (PIL). The FTIR spectrum proved that the two anions were competitively attached to the PIL backbone. The complexes show typical liquid crystalline behavior and have a single layer lamellar mesostructure for PMOF0. The incorporation of FDA leads to different lamellar structures in casting film depending on the FDA content: when the FDA content increases to 10%, MO and FDA side chains organized into a different lamellar structure independently: MO lamellar structure favors single layer packing order and FDA favors bi-layer packing order according to XRD investigation. These complexes are effective in controlling the in-plane and out-of-plane alignment of liquid crystal molecules.