Desynchronized Liquid Crystalline Network Actuators with Deformation Reversal Capability
| Autor: | Zhi-Chao Jiang, Yue Zhao, Yao-Yu Xiao, Jun-Bo Hou |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Phase transition
Materials science Shape change Polymers Science Phase (waves) General Physics and Astronomy 02 engineering and technology 010402 general chemistry 01 natural sciences Article General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Computer Science::Robotics Computer Science::Systems and Control Multidisciplinary Quantitative Biology::Neurons and Cognition Liquid crystalline Liquid crystals Isotropy General Chemistry Mechanics 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Computer Science::Other 0104 chemical sciences Deformation (engineering) 0210 nano-technology Actuator |
| Zdroj: | Nature Communications Nature Communications, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021) |
| DOI: | 10.21203/rs.3.rs-82229/v1 |
| Popis: | 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 an LCN actuator that deforms from shape 1 to shape 2 and then reverses the deformation direction to form shape 3 on heating or under light only, thus completing 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, by means of asymmetrical crosslinking and/or asymmetrical stretching. This desynchronized actuation strategy offers possibilities in developing light-fueled LCN soft robots. In particular, the multi-stage bidirectional shape change enables multimodal, light-driven locomotion from the same LCN actuator by simply varying the light on/off times. Liquid crystalline network (LCN) actuators switch reversibly between two states. Here, the authors report an asymmetrically processed LCN actuator which allows desynchronized actuation between three states using light and thermal stimuli. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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