Liquid crystal elastomer strips as soft crawlers

Electrospun Composite Liquid Crystal Elastomer Fibers

We present a robust method to prepare thin oriented nematic liquid crystalline elastomer-polymer (LCE-polymer) core-sheath fibers. An electrospinning setup is utilized to spin a single solution of photo-crosslinkable low molecular weight reactive mesogens and a support polymer to form the coaxial LCE-polymer fibers, where the support polymer forms the sheath via in situ phase separation as the ...

Flexoelectricity of a Calamitic Liquid Crystal Elastomer Swollen With a Bent-Core Liquid Crystal

We have measured the electric current induced by mechanical distortion of a calamitic liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) swollen with a low molecular weight bent-core nematic (BCN) liquid crystal, and have determined, for the first time, the bend flexoelectric coefficient e 3 of such a BCN-LCE composite. In one method, we utilise air-pressure to induce a mechanical bend deformation and flexoelectri...

Rupture of Polydomain and Monodomain Liquid Crystal Elastomer

Liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) has been recently explored extensively to make diverse active structures and devices. Depending on synthetic process, LCE can be made either polydomain or monodomain when ambient temperature is below isotropic clearing temperature. In the applications, LCE may be subjected to large mechanical stretch or force and break apart. The capability of predicting the ruptu...

Self-Regulating Iris Based on Light-Actuated Liquid Crystal Elastomer.

The iris, found in many animal species, is a biological tissue that can change the aperture (pupil) size to regulate light transmission into the eye in response to varying illumination conditions. The self-regulation of the eye lies behind its autofocusing ability and large dynamic range, rendering it the ultimate "imaging device" and a continuous source of inspiration in science. In optical im...

The 7-th International Liquid Crystal Elastomer Conference