Layered liquid crystal elastomer actuators

Tyler Guin, Michael J. Settle, Benjamin A. Kowalski, Anesia D. Auguste, Richard V. Beblo, Gregory W. Reich and Timothy J. White ()
Additional contact information
Tyler Guin: Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
Michael J. Settle: Aerospace Systems Directorate
Benjamin A. Kowalski: Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
Anesia D. Auguste: Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
Richard V. Beblo: Aerospace Systems Directorate
Gregory W. Reich: Aerospace Systems Directorate
Timothy J. White: Materials and Manufacturing Directorate

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) are soft, anisotropic materials that exhibit large shape transformations when subjected to various stimuli. Here we demonstrate a facile approach to enhance the out-of-plane work capacity of these materials by an order of magnitude, to nearly 20 J/kg. The enhancement in force output is enabled by the development of a room temperature polymerizable composition used both to prepare individual films, organized via directed self-assembly to retain arrays of topological defect profiles, as well as act as an adhesive to combine the LCE layers. The material actuator is shown to displace a load >2500× heavier than its own weight nearly 0.5 mm.

Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04911-4

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04911-4

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