4DPrinting of Photoswitchable Actuators Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • AbstractShapeswitching behavior, where a transient stimulus induces an indefinitely stable deformation that can be recovered on exposure to another transient stimulus, is critical to building smart structures from responsive polymers as continue power is not needed to maintain deformations. Herein, we 4Dprint shapeswitching liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) functionalized with supramolecular crosslinks, dynamic covalent crosslinks, and azobenzene. The salient property of shapeswitching LCEs is that light induces longlived, deformation that can be recovered ondemand by heating. UVlight isomerizes azobenzene from trans to cis, and temporarily breaks the supramolecular crosslinks, resulting in a programmed deformation. After UV, the shapeswitching LCEs fix more than 90% of the deformation over 3days by the reformed supramolecular crosslinks. Using the shapeswitching properties, we print Braillelike actuators that can be photoswitched to display different letters. This new class of photoswitchable actuators may impact applications such as deployable devices where continuous application of power is impractical.

published proceedings

  • Angewandte Chemie

author list (cited authors)

  • Lu, X., Ambulo, C. P., Wang, S., RiveraTarazona, L. K., Kim, H., Searles, K., & Ware, T. H.

citation count

  • 12

complete list of authors

  • Lu, Xili||Ambulo, Cedric P||Wang, Suitu||Rivera‐Tarazona, Laura K||Kim, Hyun||Searles, Kyle||Ware, Taylor H

publication date

  • March 2021

publisher