Self-regulating photochemical Rayleigh-Bénard convection using a highly-absorbing organic photoswitch.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32451397.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-16277-7 and PMC identifier 7248117.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
We identify unique features of a highly-absorbing negatively photochromic molecular switch, donor acceptor Stenhouse adduct (DASA), that enable its use for self-regulating light-activated control of fluid flow. Leveraging features of DASA's chemical properties and solvent-dependent reaction kinetics, we demonstrate its use for photo-controlled Rayleigh-Bénard convection to generate dynamic, self-regulating flows with unparalleled fluid velocities (~mm s<sup>-1</sup>) simply by illuminating the fluid with visible light. The exceptional absorbance of DASAs in solution, uniquely controllable reaction kinetics and resulting spatially-confined photothermal flows demonstrate the ways in which photoswitches present exciting opportunities for their use in optofluidics applications requiring tunable flow behavior.