Isomerization behavior of p-aminoazobenzene directly anchored on MoS2/graphene oxide nanocomposite

Introducing novel nanomaterials into azobenzene (AB) and its derivatives enables a remarkable influence on the molecular isomerization and thus is of great interest for a variety of applications. We systematically study the thermal and photoinduced isomerization of p -aminoazobenzene ( p AAB) directly anchored on MoS 2 /GO nanocomposites by employing in-situ and real-time surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The MoS 2 /GO nanocomposite provides the enhancements for the thermal isomerization efficiency of p AAB of more than 3-fold compared with that of the bare p AAB. We also show that the MoS 2 /GO nanocomposite has little impact on the UV-induced isomerization of the p AAB, but has apparent impact on the reverse cis -to- trans isomerization of the p AAB under blue light illumination. The results reveal that the effect of MoS 2 /GO nanocomposite on the photoinduced isomerization of p AAB depends on irradiation wavelength, which can be attributed to the competing interplay of charge transfer and structural relaxation in the hybrid system composed of p AAB and MoS 2 /GO nanocomposites. The study helps elucidate how the isomerization of azobenzene molecules is affected as incorporated into nanoscale assemblies, and thus open new opportunities for the applications of the isomerization of azobenzene in complex hybrid nanodevices.