Shape-Switchable Block Copolymer Particles Exhibiting Light-Responsive Surfactants = Shape-Switchable Block Copolymer Particles Exhibiting Light-Responsive Surfactants

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Particles changing their shape in response to external light irradiation may serve as promising smart materials. Herein, we report polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) block copolymer (BCP) particles exhibiting shape change induced by light irradiation. Key of forming light-dependent BCP particles is to design surfactants having light-active groups, which can tune interfacial activity response to light. With irradiating light, a sphere with onion-like inner morphology changes to prolate or oblate ellipsoids with axially stacked nanostructures. In addition, wavelength-selective shape transformation of BCP particles is achieved by a mixture of two light-active surfactants. Moreover, we demonstrate the color- and shape-changing particles in response to the light by using of light-emitting, photo-responsive surfactants. Finally, we integrate shape-switchable BCP particles into a hydrogel film to demonstrate the modulation of the particle shape in sub-micrometer resolution.