Liquid crystalline elastomer actuators with dynamic covalent bonding: Synthesis, alignment, reprogrammability, and self-healing

Gautam Das, Soo Young Park

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) have demonstrated tremendous potential in applications such as soft robotics, biomedical materials, electronics, sensors, and biomimetic systems. The physical properties of LCEs are controlled by the degree of crosslinking, nature of the mesogens, and mesogen orientation in the LCE network structure. A wide range of dynamic covalent bonds (DCBs) capable of dynamic bond exchange reactions (DBERs) have been introduced into LCE structures to obtain intelligent materials in recent decades. In this review article, we discuss the molecular constitution, macrostructure, morphing mechanism, recent advances in LCEs with dynamic covalent bonds, the influence of DCBs on self-healing, reprogramming and reprocessing properties of LCE actuators, and challenges and opportunities in incorporating dynamic chemistry in the field of LCE actuators.

Original languageEnglish
Article number101076
JournalCurrent Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science
Volume27
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2023

Keywords

  • Actuators
  • Dynamic covalent bonding
  • Liquid crystalline elastomer
  • Reprogrammability
  • Self-healing

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