Themed collection Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Timothy White and Rafael Verduzco introduce this themed collection in Soft Matter on liquid crystal elastomers.

Liquid crystal elastomers and networks have become the materials of choice for the fabrication of bio-inspired micro/nanostructured surfaces.

Electrospinning is a simple and versatile technique that allows the production of micro and nanofibres with many different helical shapes. In this work, we review the different electrospinning procedures that can be used to obtain helical shapes similar to those found in natural materials.

Interpenetrating polymer networks composed of liquid-crystalline azobenzene polymers and poly(dimethylsiloxane) were prepared to enhance the performance of photomobile materials.

The shear and Young moduli, the poly-domain to mono-domain transition, the Poisson ratio and the supercritical or subcritical nature of main-chain and side-chain liquid-crystal elastomers are characterized with various mechanical experiments.

Actuation temperature was controlled without influencing total actuation performance in liquid crystal elastomers fabricated by a two-stage reaction scheme.

Previously unseen coincidence of a semi-soft elastic-like load curve with a “mechanical-Fréedericksz transition” and negative liquid crystal order parameter (S).

3D liquid crystal elastomer foams (LCEs) scaffold materials as dynamic substrates for cell culture, going beyond designing only a physical static 3D scaffold.

Light and heat-induced, non-uniform deformations in nematic shells lead to Gaussian curvature, unusual geodesics and ultimately strong actuation.

A liquid crystalline elastomer based beam steerer is demonstrated able to address the impinging signal in every in-plane direction.

Integrating liquid crystal networks in an anisotropic porous scaffold allows enhancing their mechanical performance and promotes their alignment. By combining this approach with humidity-responsive liquid crystals and gradients in cross-linking density, we demonstrate soft yet tough actuators that curl, wind or twist in response to humidity.

Nematic–isotropic phase transition and swelling occur on separate time scales. A nematic microswimmer exploits this concept to change shape non-reciprocally.

Control of the mesophase in liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) is a critical aspect in harnessing their unique stimuli-responsive properties.

Tunable photonic crystals exhibiting optical properties that respond reversibly to external stimuli have been developed using liquid crystal networks (LCNs) and liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs).

A hybrid smart LCE microdevice has been produced with total control on the actuation time/response, repeatability, stability and energy saving.

This study presents the first direct comparison of the influence of liquid-crystal order during synthesis on the thermo-mechanical behaviors of main-chain liquid-crystal elastomers (LCEs) in thiol–acrylate networks.

A crosslinked liquid crystal polymer film with discrete alternating splayed alignments is fabricated and shows dual-responsive behavior.

The dumbbell-shaped diacetylene monomers are synthesized to stabilize their self-organized superstructure through topochemical polymerization.

Homeotropic aligned main-chain tolane-type liquid crystal elastomer films with high normal-to-plane thermal conductivity and high thermal conductivity anisotropy are described.

Reprocessable shape memory liquid crystalline epoxy networks were synthesized.

Monomeric mixtures formulated to prepare a liquid crystal polymer network (LCN) or elastomer (LCE) can be “programmed” by surface alignment to retain complex and arbitrary spatial distributions of the director orientation upon polymerization.

Light-induced surface deformations are brought into a patterned oscillatory deformation. This is performed by addressing the azobenzene-containing liquid crystal polymer coating with rotating polarized UV illumination.

Hybrid organic/inorganic polymeric lamellar sheets were obtained by the self-assembly and subsequent photopolymerization of oligo(dimethylsiloxane)-based reactive mesogens.

The anisotropic modulus of liquid crystal elastomers is used to drive complex shape change in bilayers.

Thermal bending of liquid crystal elastomers in swollen and neat states differs significantly in the total variation of curvature and the temperature range where the curvature varies.