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18 April 2023 Self-folding of liquid crystal elastomer composite films (Conference Presentation)
Greg McCallum, Yi-Hung Lin, Bryan Beckingham, Russell W. Mailen
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Proceedings Volume PC12484, Behavior and Mechanics of Multifunctional Materials XVII; PC1248407 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2658534
Event: SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation, 2023, Long Beach, California, United States
Abstract
In this work, we seek to fabricate self-folding liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) composite films. Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are a class of smart, multifunctional materials that can be imparted with enhanced, anisotropic mechanical properties through the alignment of crystalline domains. Crystalline order decreases with increasing temperature, and long-range order is lost above the nematic to isotropic transition temperature, TNI. This enables programmable, reversible actuation in response to temperature changes. The envisioned composite films comprise domains of active, monodomain LCEs to drive reversible self-folding, which are adhered to passive, thin films that serve as a framework to guide the self-folding response. LCEs will be synthesized using a two-stage thiol-acrylate Michael addition and photopolymerization (TAMAP) reaction. The first-stage consists of a room temperature cure to form polydomain films, and a second-stage photopolymerization of the mechanically deformed LCE film forms aligned liquid crystal monodomains. Composite films will be molded to a folded state prior to the second stage cure such that heating above TNI produces a reversible unfolding response. We characterize the self-folding behavior of these materials using a series of single-fold and multiple, intersecting fold geometries. We envision application of these composite films as actuators in soft robotics and morphing surfaces.
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Greg McCallum, Yi-Hung Lin, Bryan Beckingham, and Russell W. Mailen "Self-folding of liquid crystal elastomer composite films (Conference Presentation)", Proc. SPIE PC12484, Behavior and Mechanics of Multifunctional Materials XVII, PC1248407 (18 April 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2658534
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KEYWORDS
Liquid crystals
Composites
Photopolymerization
Actuators
Crystals
Multifunctional materials
Optical alignment
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