Reversible solvent-sensitive actuator with continuous bending/debending process from liquid crystal elastomer-colloidal material.

Shang, Yuanyuan; Liu, Junchao; Zhang, Manbo; He, Wanli; Cao, Xinyu; Wang, Jingxia; Ikeda, Tomiki; Jiang, Lei · Soft Matter · 2018

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

A reversible solvent-sensitive actuator with a continuous bending/debending process is fabricated by over-infiltration of liquid crystal monomers into a colloidal template and subsequent photopolymerization. The fabricated actuator exhibits a maximum bending angle of 1080° in 1.58 s in dichloromethane, accompanied with successive debending in 0.32 s. The behavior of the actuator can be modulated by changing the solvent type, film thickness/length and molar ratio of A6OCB/C6M. This study will provide an important experimental and theoretical basis for the development of novel actuators.