Structure and photoisomerization of spiropyran LB films

Materials such as spiropyran which show reversible photoisomerization has potential importance in molecular optoelectronics and photonics applications. It is, however, not easy to fabricate a stable and well-characterized LB film of the molecules containing large chromophores, and the size change associated with photoisomerization causes an obstacle to the isomerization in a rigid structure of an LB film. We studied the relation among the film preparation conditions such as additives and so on, the film structure and the reversible photoisomerization performance. The structure of spiropyran LB film was successfully controlled by choosing a proper amount of additives and other conditions, and the prepared film showed stable reversible photoisomerization