Synthesis and characterization of copolycarbonates having azobenzene units in the main chain as an active group for optical logic gate devices

This work studies the synthesis of copolymers having photochromic azobenzene groups in the main chain, obtained by copolymerization between phosgene and suitable mixtures of azo-monomer and bisphenol-A. Moreover, we show the application of our novel copolymer as a potential logic gate. The chemical and physical properties of these statistical copolymers were investigated by means of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, gel permeation chromatography, thermo-analytic techniques and UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The structural analysis confirmed the formation of statistical copolymers. Furthermore, some of these copolymers exhibited a trans → cis reversible photoisomerization not only in solution but also in the solid state on exposure to light of 330 or 440 nm (using a spectrofluorometer as a fully tunable light source). Finally, a discrete and unusual fluorescence was observed upon irradiation at 330 and 440 nm. An in silico TD-DFT calculation study was conducted to explain the observed fluorescence. Thanks to their spectroscopic features, these copolymers are suitable for use in photonic applications such as an optical logical gate.