Direct preparation of nematic liquid crystalline elastomer actuators by electron beam irradiation polymerization

Abstract

Oriented side chain liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) films with thermo- and photo-mechanical properties were prepared via electron beam (EB) irradiation. A magnetic field was applied to the nematic monomers during the polymerization to obtain aligned LCEs. The effects of the crosslinker concentration in feed, delivered dose and direction of the magnetic field during the polymerization on the properties of the LCEs were studied, respectively.