Harnessing the Stimuli-Response of Liquid Crystalline Elastomers in Robotics

Liquid crystalline materials are pervasive in our homes, purses, and pockets. It has been long-known that liquid crystallinity in polymers enables exceptional characteristics in high performance applications such as transparent armor or bulletproof vests. This talk will generally focus on a class of liquid crystalline materials referred to as liquid crystalline elastomers. These materials were predicted by de Gennes to have exceptional promise as artificial muscles, owing to the unique assimilation of anisotropy and elasticity. Subsequent experimental studies have confirmed the salient features of these materials, with respect to other forms of stimuli-responsive soft matter, are large stroke actuation up to 75% as well “soft elasticity” (stretch at minimal stress). This presentation will survey our efforts in directing the self-assembly of these materials to realize distinctive functional behavior with implications to soft robotics. Most notably, enabled by new chemistries amenable to facile processing methods we have prepared liquid crystal elastomers with distinctive actuation and mechanical properties realizing more than 100 J/kg work capacities in homogenous material compositions. Fibers and yarns are promising geometries to further enhance the exceptional stimuli-response of these materials.