Desynchronized Liquid Crystalline Network Actuators with Deformation Reversal Capability
Liquid crystalline network (LCN) actuator normally deforms upon thermally or optically induced order-disorder phase transition, switching once between two shapes (shape-1 in LC phase and shape-2 in isotropic state) for each stimulation on/off cycle. Herein, we report a novel type of LCN actuator that deforms from shape-1 to shape-2 and then reverses the deformation direction back to shape-1 or to a new shape-3 on heating or under light only, meaning that the actuator can complete the shape switch twice for one stimulation on/off cycle. The deformation reversal capability is obtained with a monolithic LCN actuator whose two sides are made to start deforming at different temperatures and exerting different reversible strains, which can be realized through asymmetrical crosslinking and/or asymmetrical stretching of the two sides in preparing the LCN actuator. This desynchronized actuation strategy offers new possibilities in developing light-fueled LCN soft robots. In particular, the multi-stage bidirectional shape change can be used to achieve multimodal, light-driven locomotion with different moving speeds from the same LCN actuator by simply varying the light on/off times to confine shape switch in a specific sub-stage.
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Supporting Information
Posted 28 Sep, 2020
Desynchronized Liquid Crystalline Network Actuators with Deformation Reversal Capability
Posted 28 Sep, 2020
Liquid crystalline network (LCN) actuator normally deforms upon thermally or optically induced order-disorder phase transition, switching once between two shapes (shape-1 in LC phase and shape-2 in isotropic state) for each stimulation on/off cycle. Herein, we report a novel type of LCN actuator that deforms from shape-1 to shape-2 and then reverses the deformation direction back to shape-1 or to a new shape-3 on heating or under light only, meaning that the actuator can complete the shape switch twice for one stimulation on/off cycle. The deformation reversal capability is obtained with a monolithic LCN actuator whose two sides are made to start deforming at different temperatures and exerting different reversible strains, which can be realized through asymmetrical crosslinking and/or asymmetrical stretching of the two sides in preparing the LCN actuator. This desynchronized actuation strategy offers new possibilities in developing light-fueled LCN soft robots. In particular, the multi-stage bidirectional shape change can be used to achieve multimodal, light-driven locomotion with different moving speeds from the same LCN actuator by simply varying the light on/off times to confine shape switch in a specific sub-stage.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6