Volume 142, Issue 15 e56740
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Liquid Crystal Polycaprolactone Copolymer Elastomer With Low Autonomous Driving Temperature

Hongwei Zhou

Hongwei Zhou

Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering Changzhou University, Changzhou, P. R. China

Contribution: ​Investigation (lead), Writing - original draft (lead)

Search for more papers by this author
Hongjin Li

Hongjin Li

Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering Changzhou University, Changzhou, P. R. China

Contribution: ​Investigation (supporting)

Search for more papers by this author
Yao Yan

Yao Yan

Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering Changzhou University, Changzhou, P. R. China

Contribution: ​Investigation (supporting)

Search for more papers by this author
Rong Yang

Corresponding Author

Rong Yang

Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering Changzhou University, Changzhou, P. R. China

Correspondence:

Rong Yang ([email protected])

Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Supervision (lead), Writing - review & editing (lead)

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 15 January 2025

Funding: This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20241943), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51903021).

ABSTRACT

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are liquid crystal polymers with moderate crosslinking that exhibit elasticity in both their isotropic and liquid crystal states. These materials can be programmed through chemical design and geometric configuration to achieve autonomous actuation at specific temperatures. Typically, the autonomous actuation temperature of LCEs exceeds the phase transition temperature of their isotropic states, with most reported LCEs requiring temperatures above 100°C. Such high temperatures pose challenges for use in soft robotics due to increased energy consumption and limited operational flexibility. In this study, we introduce a small amount of polycaprolactone (PCL) into the main chain of LCEs, effectively lowering their phase transition temperature while maintaining over 90% of the reversible shrinkage strain characteristic of pure LCEs. By adjusting the PCL content, the number of twists, and the helix density, we successfully obtained an LCE-PCL actuator with improved autonomous actuation performance at temperatures ranging from 45°C to 105°C. Moreover, by modulating the degree of torsion and the operating temperature, the LCE-PCL autonomous actuator demonstrates the ability to perform complex motions, such as reversing and parking. This work offers new insights into the design and application of LCEs with reduced phase transition temperatures and enhanced self-driving capabilities.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.