PHOTO-OPTICAL PROCESSES IN PHOTOCHROMIC COMB-SHAPED POLYMER COMPLEXES WITH HYDROGEN-BOUNDED AZOBENZENE CONTAINING MESOGENIC GROUPS

In this work, we studied the photooptical properties of supramolecular complexes of comb-shaped polymers with a block and random distribution of phenylbenzoate (PhM) mesogenic groups and 4-vinylpyridine units (VP) with hydrogen-bonded azobenzene-containing (Azo) groups. Irradiation of the films of the complexes with linearly polarized light (457 nm) leads to the orientation of both types of mesogenic groups in the direction perpendicular to the polarization plane of the incident light. It was found that the value of induced dichroism D of Azo groups is three times greater for the complex with block structure than for the complex with random structure. It is shown that the microphase-separated structure of polymer complex plays an important role in the mechanism and course of photoorientation processes, as well as in the manifestation of the cooperative effect between photochromic and non-photochromic mesogenic groups.