Brady’s Reagent Derived Organic Single Crystal as Photothermal Oscillator

Brady’s test has been utilized to detect the presence of aldehyde and ketone functional groups in organic chemistry laboratory experiments. In this study, we have discovered that crystalline Brady’s reagent (2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine, DNPH) is photothermally active, and its single crystals are elastically flexible. A series of hydrazones were synthesized by condensation of DNPH with benzaldehyde and its chloro-substituted ones. Single crystals of most of these hydrazones showed elastic flexibility and UV-induced photothermal effect. The rise in temperature due to the photothermal effect induces bending and vibrational behavior in the single-crystal cantilever beams. The photothermally driven actuation and elastic nature of these crystals refer to the versatility of the organic crystals for use in advanced photoinduced and mechanically flexible actuators.