Topological Control of Columnar Stacking Made of Liquid-Crystalline Thiophene-Fused Metallonaphthalocyanines.

The spontaneous organization of two-dimensional polyaromatic molecules into well-defined nanostructures through noncovalent interactions is important in the development of organic-based electronic and optoelectronic devices. Two regioisomers of thiophene-fused zinc naphthalocyanines ZnTNcendo and ZnTNcexo have been designed and synthesized to obtain photo- and electroactive liquid crystalline materials. Both compounds exhibited liquid crystalline behavior over a wide temperature range through intermolecular π-π interactions and local phase segregation between the aromatic cores and peripheral side chains.

Photo Induced Membrane Separation for Water Purification and Desalination Using Azobenzene Modified Anodized Alumina Membranes.

Water purification and desalination to produce end-use water are important agendas in 21st century, because the global water shortage is becoming increasingly serious. Those processes using light energy, especially solar energy, without the consumption of fossil fuels are desired for creating sustainable society. For these earth-friendly water treatments, nanoporous materials and membranes are expected to provide new technologies.

Temperature control of light transmission using mixed system of silica hollow particles with nanoparticle shell and organic components.

We reported before that a silica hollow particle whose shell consists of silica nanoparticle (SHP-NP) has a high light reflection ability to prevent light transmission through the particle, which is caused from the intensive light diffusion by the hollow structure and the nanoparticle of the shell. Since the difference in the refractive indices between silica and air is responsible for the strong light reflection, the mixing of the particle with organic components having refractive indices close to that of silica such as tetradecane produced transparent mixtures by suppression of the light reflection. The transparency of the mixtures thus prepared could be controlled by temperature variation.