Photoisomerisation behaviour of azobenzene crystals hybridised with silica nanoparticles by dry grinding

The dry grinding of azobenzene crystals with silica nanoparticles gave nanohybrids, which exhibited reversible photoisomerisation in water through linearly consecutive processes. The hybrids mill-dispersed in an aqueous PVA solution displayed different spectral changes due to the partial dissolution of azobenzene in PVA coils in water.