Understanding the effect of liquid crystal content on the phase behavior and mechanical properties of liquid crystal elastomers

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dc.citation.firstpage5074en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleSoft Matteren_US
dc.citation.lastpage5081en_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber18en_US
dc.contributor.authorBarnes, Morganen_US
dc.contributor.authorCetinkaya, Suedaen_US
dc.contributor.authorAjnsztajn, Alecen_US
dc.contributor.authorVerduzco, Rafaelen_US
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-25T17:06:26Zen_US
dc.date.available2022-07-25T17:06:26Zen_US
dc.date.issued2022en_US
dc.description.abstractLiquid crystal elastomers are stimuli-responsive, shape-shifting materials. They typically require high temperatures for actuation which prohibits their use in many applications, such as biomedical devices. In this work, we demonstrate a simple and general approach to tune the order-to-disorder transition temperature (TODT) or nematic-to-isotropic transition temperature (TNI) of LCEs through variation of the overall liquid crystal mass content. We demonstrate reduction of the TNI in nematic LCEs through the incorporation of non-mesogenic linkers or the addition of lithium salts, and show that the TNI varies linearly with liquid crystal mass content over a broad range, approximately 50 °C. We also analyze data from prior reports that include three different mesogens, different network linking chemistries, and different alignment strategies, and show that the linear trend in TODT with liquid crystal mass content also holds for these systems. Finally, we demonstrate a simple approach to quantifying the maximum actuation strain through measurement of the soft elastic plateau and demonstrate applications of nematic LCEs with low TODTs, including the first body-responsive LCE that curls around a human finger due to body heat, and a fluidic channel that directionally pumps liquid when heated.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBarnes, Morgan, Cetinkaya, Sueda, Ajnsztajn, Alec, et al.. "Understanding the effect of liquid crystal content on the phase behavior and mechanical properties of liquid crystal elastomers." <i>Soft Matter,</i> 18, (2022) Royal Society of Chemistry: 5074-5081. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM00480A.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1039/D2SM00480Aen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/112916en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherRoyal Society of Chemistryen_US
dc.titleUnderstanding the effect of liquid crystal content on the phase behavior and mechanical properties of liquid crystal elastomersen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpost-printen_US
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