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Article
Desynchronized Liquid Crystalline Network Actuators with Deformation Reversal Capability
Yue Zhao
Université de Sherbrooke
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5544-5697
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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.
Keywords
liquid crystal polymers, deformation reversal, soft actuators, desynchronized actuation, multi-mode locomotion
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This is a preprint. It has not completed peer review.
Article
Desynchronized Liquid Crystalline Network Actuators with Deformation Reversal Capability
Yue Zhao
Université de Sherbrooke
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5544-5697
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Under Review
Version 1
Posted 28 Sep, 2020
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
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