Abstract:
Control over the self-assembly process of porous organic–inorganic hybrids often leads to unprecedented
polymorphism and properties. Herein we demonstrate how light can be a powerful tool to intervene in the
kinetically controlled mesoscale self-assembly of a coordination polymeric gelator. Ultraviolet light induced
coordination modulation via photoisomerisation of an azobenzene based dicarboxylate linker followed by
aggregation mediated crystal growth resulted in two distinct morphological forms (flowers and stars), which
show subtle differences in their physical properties.
