Preparation and Insights of Smart Foams with Phototunable Foamability Based on Azobenzene-Containing Surfactants.

Smart foams with tunable foamability exhibit superb applications in many fields such as colloidal and interface science. Herein, we have synthesized an azobenzene-containing surfactant with excellent photoresponsiveness by a simple thiol-maleimide click reaction between thioglycolic acid and 4-(-maleimide) azobenzene (MAB). The structure and the photoresponsive behavior of the novel surfactant are characterized.