Selected Issues in Liquid Crystal Elastomers and Gels

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Bibliographic Information

Published
2007-03-06
DOI
  • 10.1021/ma0623688
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)

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Description

In this perspective, we discuss select issues investigated in recent studies on liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) and gels−soft solids having a mobile director. A considerable amount of knowledge accumulated during the past decade proves that LCEs are not simple extensions of liquid crystals (LCs) and elastomers. The strong coupling of orientational order of LCs and rubber elasticity of polymer networks leads to novel stimulus-response behavior that provides not only a wealth of academically interesting issues but also numerous potential applications including soft actuators, components of artificial muscles, and nonlinear optical devices. We mainly focus on the responses of LCEs swollen by a low molecular mass LC to the temperature variations and electric fields. The temperature response reveals that their macroscopic volume and shape are strongly coupled with nematic order; therefore, they behave as the anisotropic gels with temperature-responsive volume and shape. In fast response to electric fields, th...

Journal

  • Macromolecules

    Macromolecules 40 (7), 2277-2288, 2007-03-06

    American Chemical Society (ACS)

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