LAUSR

The assembly of various azo dyes and pigments with inorganic layered materials could develop new types of intercalation materials. The electronic structures and photothermal properties of composite materials (AbS–-LDH) constituted by azobenzene sulfonate anions (AbS–) and Mg–Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) lamella were theoretically studied at the M06-2X/def2-TZVP//M06-2X/6-31G(d,p) level using density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory. Meanwhile, the influences of LDH lamella on the AbS– in AbS–-LDH materials were investigated. The calculated results showed that the addition of LDH lamella could lower the isomerization energy barrier of CAbS– anions (CAbS– stands for cis AbS–). The thermal isomerization mechanisms of AbS–-LDH and AbS were related to the conformational change of the azo group, out-of-plane rotation and in-plane inversion. The LDH lamella could reduce the energy gap of the n → π* and π → π* electronic transition and lead to a red-shift in the absorption spectra. When a polar solvent DMSO was applied, the excitation energy of the AbS–-LDHs was increased, making its photostability stronger than in nonpolar solvent and solvent-free.