Photoresponsive dyes

The photoisomerization of azobenzene between the cis and irons forms is well known and gels containing attached azobenzene units have been shown to respond to UV illumination by stiffening [128]. Leucocyanides are photoresponsive dyes that convert between ionized and unionized forms on irradiation with light and cause osmotic swelling and contraction of a gel [129]. Marder and co-workers developed a hydrogel that responds to UV irradiation with a keto to enol tautomerization that results in mechanical deflection of a cantilever [130]. Nitrocinnamate chemistry has been used to create a hydrogel which can be reversibly photocross-linked and photocleaved [131]. 

The cationie dye was assoeiated with the anion (7,8,9,10,11,12 Brg-l-CBnHg) in order to dissolve it in the organie phase. The polarizable window available for photoinduced electron transfer in this system extended over 100 mV for the eonditions specified in Fig. 13. The photoeurrent responses were measured under ehopped light and lock-in detection at 8.4 Hz. Figure 13(b) shows that some photoresponses oeeur only in the presence of the dye speeies, whieh the authors attributed to the transfer of Ru(bpy)3" to the aqueous phase as a result of interfaeial polarization induced by the ehopped light [130]. Upon addition of in the aqueous phase, an inerease in the amplitude of the photo-... 

Another point subject to criticism from this work is the apparent absence of DC photocurrents upon constant illumination. Although the responses in Fig. 13(c) appear effectively in phase at the chopping frequency, it is possible that slow photoinduced perturbation of accumulated charge at the interface can be connected with these photoresponses, e.g., photoionization of the dye [72]. In this respect, clearer evidence of photo-induced ET was introduced by Brown et al. for the reaction [49]... 

Within the potential range where Ru(bpy)3 remains in the aqueous phase, photocurrent responses are clearly observed with a slow rising time of the order of 10 s as shown in Fig. 14(a). According to the convention employed by these authors, positive currents correspond to the transfer of a negative charge from water to DCE. No photoresponses were observed in the absence of either the dye in the aqueous phase or TCNQ in DCE. Further analysis of the interfacial behavior of the product TCNQ revealed that the ion transfer occurred outside of the polarizable window [cf. Fig. 14(d)], confirming that these photoresponses are not affected by coupled ion-transfer processes. An earlier report also showed photoeffects for the photoreduction of the viologen under similar conditions [131]. 

Semiconductor electrodes can be used in galvanic cells like metal electrodes and a controlled electrode potential can be applied by means of a potentiostat, if the electrode can be contacted with a suitable metal without formation of a barrier layer (ohmic contact). Suitable techniques for ohmic contacts have been worked out in connection with semiconductor electronics. Surface treatment is important for the properties of semiconductor electrodes in all kind of charge transfer processes and especially in the photoresponse. Mechanical polishing generates a great number of new electronic states underneath the surface 29> which can act as quenchers for excited molecules at the interface. Therefore, sufficient etching is imperative for studying photocurrents caused by excited dyes. 

Typical results are shown in Fig. 44. The spectral threshold of the proper photoconductivity and the photo-emf of PAC is situated at 520 nm. The spectral response for the photo emf of PAC itself is shown by curve 1. After PAC has been immersed in an ethanol solution of methylene blue and dried its spectral response is represented by curves 2 and 2. The photo-response appears in the range of the absorption maximum of the dye at 680 nm characteristic of the monomolecular form in the dilute initial solution (curve 3). The observed enhancement of the second maximum at 620 nm in comparison to the solution spectrum is obviously connected with the presence of dye dimers. The shift of the maximum photoresponse to the longer wavelength by 15 nm relatively to the solution is usually the case for the adsorbed state. The sign of the charge carriers both in the proper and sensitized spectra ranges is positive. As seen in Fig. 44 the adsorption of the dye also markedly changes the proper photosensitivity of the PAC. When the monomolecular form of the adsorbed dye dominates, the... 

Multisite crown ethers (30) and (31) are polymacrocycles. These molecules are potentially like cryptands in view of the possibilities for forming inclusion-like species. The photoresponsive crowns provide an excellent example of this aspect, and consist of two crown ethers, as in (30a and 30b), attached via a photosensitive azo linkage. This molecule undergoes reversible isomerization (likened to a butterfly motion), shown in equation (13). The cis form gives a stable 1 1 cation ligand complex with the larger alkali cations (actually a 1 2 cation crown ratio). Concentrations of (30b) in solutions are thus noted to be enhanced by the addition of these cations.100,101 Other multisite crowns have been prepared from diphenyl- and triphenyl-methane dyes, e.g. (31).102... 

Photomechanical effects have been also observed in monolayers obtained from poly(L-glutamic acid) modified with carbocyanine1831 and spiropyran dyes.184 In the latter case, irradiation at 254 nm produced changes in the molecular conformation, which in turn caused photomodulation of the surface pressure and surface area of the films. From all these examples, it appears that photoresponsive monolayers are quite fascinating systems, which may eventually come to be regarded as a machine to transform light into mechanical energy . 81 ... 

Fig. 3 Photoresponsive polymer surface sensitive to pH and light. Adsorption and release of cytochrome c triggered by pH (b, c, and d) release of the polymer layer and cytochrome c by breaking the host-guest interactions between surface-tethered azo dye and cyclodextrin via light irradiation (a and d). The molecular structure on the right represents the host-guest complexa-tion of the azo dye with the cyclodextrin-modified poly(acrylic acid). Reprinted, with permission, from [68]. Copyright (2009) Wiley Interscience...

Dyes such as erythrosin B [172], eosin [173-177], rose bengal [178,179], rhodamines [180-185], cresyl violet [186-191], thionine [192], chlorophyll a and b [193-198], chlorophyllin [197,199], anthracene-9-carboxylate [200,201], perylene [202,203] 8-hydroxyquinoline [204], porphyrins [205], phthalocyanines [206,207], transition metal cyanides [208,209], Ru(bpy)32+ and its analogs [83,170,210-218], cyanines [169,219-226], squaraines [55,227-230], and phe-nylfluorone [231] which have high extinction coefficients in the visible, are often employed to extend the photoresponse of the semiconductor in photoelectro-chemical systems. Visible light sensitization of platinized Ti02 photocatalyst by surface-coated polymers derivatized with ruthenium tris(bipyridyl) complex has also been attempted [232,233]. Because the singlet excited state of these dyes is short lived it becomes essential to adsorb them on the semiconductor surface with... 

Figure 13.19. Photoresponse (output voltage) of diamond UV sensor against irradiations of ArF and dye lasers. The sensitivity to the ArF laser is 100 times better than to the dye laser [430].

Examples of photoresponsive macrocycles are styrene-containing dyes (Figure 7), or the bis-anthracenyl macrotricycles (155) and lariat ethers with an anthracenyl arm (156). 

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