�y��vlog

To create the polarization pattern on top of the structural image, the researchers placed a stencil of the university's seal over the film and then exposed it to polarized light, which changed the orientation of the azobenzene molecules in the polymer.

The approach includes a metal-organic cage filled with one azobenzene molecule and one light-absorbing antenna molecule, the sensitizer.

To imitate this structure, Dr Yu designed a new liquid-crystal polymer consisting of a long flexible carbon backbone and azobenzene, a chemical compound made up of two hexagonal rings linked together.

Second, azobenzene’s rings are known to line up with each other when visible light is shone on it, a movement that should make the polymer expand a little.

Charging 'heat batteries' in the sun Using a compound called azobenzene along with carbon nanotubes -- tiny cylinders made from carbon -- Grossman created a way to capture the sun's energy and store it in a single step.