Issue 7, 2022

Advances in 4D printing of liquid crystalline elastomers: materials, techniques, and applications

Abstract

Liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) are polymer networks exhibiting anisotropic liquid crystallinity while maintaining elastomeric properties. Owing to diverse polymeric forms and self-alignment molecular behaviors, LCEs have fascinated state-of-the-art efforts in various disciplines other than the traditional low-molar-mass display market. By patterning order to structures, LCEs demonstrate reversible high-speed and large-scale actuations in response to external stimuli, allowing for close integration with 4D printing and architectures of digital devices, which is scarcely observed in homogeneous soft polymer networks. In this review, we collect recent advances in 4D printing of LCEs, with emphases on synthesis and processing methods that enable microscopic changes in the molecular orientation and hence macroscopic changes in the properties of end-use objects. Promising potentials of printed complexes include fields of soft robotics, optics, and biomedical devices. Within this scope, we elucidate the relationships among external stimuli, tailorable morphologies in mesophases of liquid crystals, and programmable topological configurations of printed parts. Lastly, perspectives and potential challenges facing 4D printing of LCEs are discussed.

Graphical abstract: Advances in 4D printing of liquid crystalline elastomers: materials, techniques, and applications

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
24 fev 2022
Accepted
22 apr 2022
First published
22 apr 2022

Mater. Horiz., 2022,9, 1825-1849

Author version available

Advances in 4D printing of liquid crystalline elastomers: materials, techniques, and applications

Z. Guan, L. Wang and J. Bae, Mater. Horiz., 2022, 9, 1825 DOI: 10.1039/D2MH00232A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements