In this study, we report the synthesis, characterization, and photo-responsive properties of a new Y-shaped amphiphilic azo triblock copolymer composed of two isotropic polyethylene glycol (PEG) blocks and an azobenzene liquid crystalline block. The azo block, with two ending groups suitable for the azo coupling reaction, is polymerized by atom transfer radical polymerization with a synthesized initiator containing two functional terminal groups. The macromolecular diazonium salts are prepared by the diazotization of PEG terminated with an amino group. The triblock copolymer is obtained by the azo coupling reaction between the azo block and macromolecular diazonium salts in DMF under mild condition. The intermediates and the obtained triblock copolymer are characterized by ¹H NMR, FT-IR, GPC, POM, DSC, TEM, and UV-vis. The photoinduced isomerization behavior of the azo copolymer is investigated by UV-vis. With the addition of water into the solution of the triblock copolymer, spherical aggregates with an average diameter of about 400 nm can be easily obtained. The aggregates are elongated when irradiated with polarized 365 nm UV light. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43695.

A new aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active polymer (PS-TPE) with high tetraphenylethene (TPE) loading density was synthesized. The synthesized polymer showed significant AIE properties, good solubility and high thermal stability. Soft-lithographic contact printing process by using photoinduced surface relief structures on azo polymer film as masters and duplicated PDMS elastomer as stamps was used to fabricate fluorescent PS-TPE patterns. Various fluorescent structures with high contrast including surface relief gratings, periodically dotted patterns, and quasi-crystal structures can be easily fabricated through this approach. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016, 54, 1838–1845