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Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Microfluidic Preparation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomer Actuators
Published on: May 20, 2018
Humidity-responsive liquid crystalline polymer actuators with an asymmetry in the molecular trigger that bend, fold,
Laurens T de Haan1, Julien M N Verjans, Dirk J Broer
1Functional Organic Materials and Devices, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, and Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology , Den Dolech 2, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
We show a versatile method for the preparation of a variety of humidity-responsive actuators based on a single sheet of a hydrogen-bonded, uniaxially aligned liquid crystal polymer network. In this approach, the asymmetry in the molecular trigger in the anisotropic polymer film plays a dominant role leading to programmed deformation events. The material is locally treated with a potassium hydroxide solution to create the asymmetry in the responsiveness toward humidity, which allows to prepare actuators that bend, fold, or curl.
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