Polarization of soft materials through magnetic alignment of polymeric organogels under low-field conditions

Through application of an external magnetic field upon jellification of poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-3-hydroxyvaleric) acid (PHBV) polymer in different solvents, an anisotropic organogel is obtained. This material presents two alignment steps in an external magnetic field, in the liquid phase and during the jellification, both phenomena measured by magnetic field induced linear birefringence. Remarkably, the organogel developed in this study presents a strong level of birefringence, 80% of its maximum, in an external magnetic field as low as 2 T resulting from the magnetic alignment of the fibers of the material. This anisotropic material shows changes of absorbance upon rotation of a polarizer switching from transparent to opaque. In addition, its suprastructure does not influence the luminescent properties of encapsulated chromophores, allowing the formation of colored anisotropic materials.