Programming liquid crystal elastomers for multistep ambidirectional deformability

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Yao, Yuxing; Wilborn, Atalaya Milan; Lemaire, Baptiste; Trigka, Foteini; Stricker, Friedrich; Weible, Alan H.; Li, Shucong; Bennett, Robert K. A.; Cheung, Tung Chun; Grinthal, Alison; Zhernenkov, Mikhail; Freychet, Guillaume; Wasik, Patryk; Kozinsky, Boris; Lerch, Michael M.; Wang, Xiaoguang; Aizenberg, Joanna
• 署名单位: Harvard University; Hong Kong University of Science & Technology; Harvard University; University of Groningen; University System of Ohio; Ohio State University; United States Department of Energy (DOE); Brookhaven National Laboratory; Bosch; Stanford University
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-11591
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adq6434
• 发表日期: 2024-12-06
• 页码: 1161-1168
• 关键词: actuators

摘要

Ambidirectionality, which is the ability of structural elements to move beyond a reference state in two opposite directions, is common in nature. However, conventional soft materials are typically limited to a single, unidirectional deformation unless complex hybrid constructs are used. We exploited the combination of mesogen self-assembly, polymer chain elasticity, and polymerization-induced stress to design liquid crystalline elastomers that exhibit two mesophases: chevron smectic C (cSmC) and smectic A (SmA). Inducing the cSmC-SmA-isotropic phase transition led to an unusual inversion of the strain field in the microstructure, resulting in opposite deformation modes (e.g., consecutive shrinkage or expansion and right-handed or left-handed twisting and tilting in opposite directions) and high-frequency nonmonotonic oscillations. This ambidirectional movement is scalable and can be used to generate Gaussian transformations at the macroscale.