Woongbi Cho1,Jisoo Jeon2,Min Jeong Hahm1,Tae Hee Han1,Jeong Jae Wie1
Hanyang University1,Georgia Institute of Technology2
Woongbi Cho1,Jisoo Jeon2,Min Jeong Hahm1,Tae Hee Han1,Jeong Jae Wie1
Hanyang University1,Georgia Institute of Technology2
Beyond the passive deformation of flexible electronics by human hand or tethered mechanical strain, the autonomous shape-reconfigurable and locomotive electronics have a great potential for miniaturized electronics, which can transform their initial flat shape to a programmed 3D geometry, and/or transfer their body to desirable locations via asymmetric repetitive programmed actuation. The physical intelligence-encoded liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) are great candidates for a main body of shape-reconfigurable electronics, due to their programmable molecular alignments resulting in macroscopic shape changes upon external stimuli. In this presentation, we introduce LCP composites to achieve shape-reconfigurable and locomotive electronics. To achieve electrical conductivity, we employed conducting fillers including reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and Ti<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>T<sub>x</sub> MXene as bilayered structures with LCPs. The bilayered structure enables the LCP composites to perform enhanced shape-reconfigurability and show the original electrical conductivity of the conducting fillers without deterioration. Furthermore, the RGO and MXene can provide high infrared light absorption to LCP composites, which can induce remotely controlled shape reconfiguration via the photothermal effect. We demonstrated in-plane bending and 3D torsional twisting of LCP composite bilayers under external stimuli including UV, NIR, and electrical power according to the chemical composition of LCP and types of conducting fillers. Finally, we introduced the Kirigami-engineered structure and collectively assembled structures to achieve diversified 3D morphed shapes and locomotion of shape-reconfigurable electronics.