Published in

Wiley, Advanced Materials, 2023

DOI: 10.1002/adma.202302765

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Liquid Crystal Elastomer–Liquid Metal Composite: Ultrafast, Untethered, and Programmable Actuation by Induction Heating

Journal article published in 2023 by Victor Maurin, Yilong Chang, Qiji Ze, Sophie Leanza, Jing Wang, Ruike Renee Zhao ORCID
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Abstract

AbstractLiquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are a class of stimuli‐responsive materials that have been intensively studied for applications including artificial muscles, shape morphing structures, and soft robotics due to their capability of large, programmable, and fully reversible actuation strains. To fully take advantage of LCEs, rapid, untethered, and programmable actuation methods are highly desirable. Here, a liquid crystal elastomer‐liquid metal (LCE‐LM) composite is reported, which enables ultrafast and programmable actuations by eddy current induction heating. The composite consists of LM sandwiched between two LCE layers printed via direct ink writing (DIW). When subjected to a high‐frequency alternating magnetic field, the composite is actuated in milliseconds. By moving the magnetic field, the eddy current is spatially controlled for selective actuation. Additionally, sequential actuation is achievable by programming the LM thickness distribution in a sample. With these capabilities, the LCE‐LM composite is further exploited for multimodal deformation of a pop‐up structure, on‐ground omnidirectional robotic motion, and in‐water targeted object manipulation and crawling.