Repeatable and Reprogrammable Shape Morphing from Photoresponsive Gold Nanorod/Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are of interest for applications such as soft robotics and shape-morphing devices. Among the different actuation mechanisms, light offers advantages such as spatial and local control of actuation via the photothermal effect. However, the unwanted aggregation of the light-absorbing nanoparticles in the LCE matrix will limit the photothermal response speed, actuation performance, and repeatability. Herein, a near-infrared-responsive LCE composite consisting of up to 0.20 wt% poly(ethylene glycol)-modified gold nanorods (AuNRs) without apparent aggregation is demonstrated. The high Young's modulus, 20.3 MPa, and excellent photothermal performance render repeated and fast actuation of the films (actuation within 5 s and recovery in 2 s) when exposed to 800 nm light at an average output power of ≈1.0 W cm^-2 , while maintaining a large actuation strain (56%). Further, it is shown that the same sheet of AuNR/LCE film (100 µm thick) can be morphed into different shapes simply by varying the motifs of the photomasks.