Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42555241›Full record

ReviewAdvanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)2026

Azobenzene's Cross-Scale Optics and Photonics: Molecular Photoswitching, Mesoscopic Material Motions, and Adaptive Devices.

Heeju Son, Soyul Kwak, Heerin Noh, Minsang Kim, Doyeon Noh, Subhayan Chakraborty, Jaewon Lee, YongDeok Cho, Kyeongsoo Kim, Taewoong Eom and 11 more

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

21 authors.

Heeju SonKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Soyul KwakKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Heerin NohKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Minsang KimDepartment of Biomicrosystem Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Doyeon NohDepartment of Biomicrosystem Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Subhayan ChakrabortyDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
Jaewon LeeKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
YongDeok ChoKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Kyeongsoo KimKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Taewoong EomKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Moonyoung KimKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Jangwon KimKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Hoyoung LeeKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Soyoung LeeKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Jaehun KimKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
Grace G D HanDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
Shin-Tson WuCollege of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA.
Stefano OscuratoPhysics Department "E. Pancini", Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
Arri PriimagiSmart Photonic Materials, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Marina SaphiannikovaDivision Theory of Polymers, Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Seungwoo LeeKU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6659-3457

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft GR 3725/10-1European Research Council 101045223European UnionKorea UniversityNational Research Foundation of Korea RS-2022-NR068141National Research Foundation of Korea RS-2026-25621181NSF CAREER 101164874NSF CAREER DMR-2142887Research Council of Finland 320165Research Council of Finland 346107Samsung Research Funding & Incubation Center for Future Technology SRFC-MA2301-02
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Azobenzene is a widely studied molecular photoswitch that converts light absorption into reversible E/Z isomerization and, when embedded in soft or ordered media, into optical, mechanical, thermal, transport, and bioadaptive functions. This review examines azobenzene optics and photonics through a cross-scale structure-property-function framework. We first summarize the mechanistic landscape of trans-cis isomerization, including π-π* and n-π* excitation, ultrafast relaxation pathways, and molecular design rules that tune absorption wavelength, quantum yield, photostationary state (PSS), and cis-state lifetime. We then connect single-molecule switching to collective responses in azobenzene-containing materials, including photoalignment and all-optical poling, stress-driven surface patterning in amorphous polymers, photomechanics in liquid-crystalline polymer networks (LCNs) and liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), and phase-transition-based responses. On this basis, we organize applications according to their dominant device functions: information processing and reconfigurable photonics, dynamic liquid crystals (LCs) and adaptive optical devices, molecular solar thermal (MOST) energy storage, mechanical motion and soft robotics, mechanically enabled processing, bioadaptive transport, and opto/iontronic interfaces. The Review emphasizes quantitative links between molecular orientation, stress generation, and macroscopic deformation, and highlights how modeling and materials design can improve visible/red-light operation, fatigue resistance, penetration depth, manufacturability, and device integration. We close by outlining challenges and opportunities for durable, scalable, and multifunctional azobenzene-based adaptive photonic matter.

Indexed as

azobenzenedirectional photodeformationliquid crystalsphotoisomerizationphotomechanics

Identifiers

PMID42555241
PMCPMC13648899

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.