Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 27, 2025
07:56
Preparation of Liquid Crystal Networks for Macroscopic Oscillatory Motion Induced by Light
Published on: September 20, 2017
11.7K
Photo-Programmed Deformations in Rigid Liquid Crystalline Polymers Triggered by Body Temperature
Hyunsu Kim1, Jing Li2,3, Yves S Y Hsieh3,4
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|September 28, 2022
Summary
Researchers developed a new method to program rigid polymers to change shape using only body heat. This breakthrough enables advanced shape-morphing applications for flexible electronics and biomedical devices.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Chemistry
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Body heat-triggered shape deformation is ideal for bio-integrated applications.
- Current bio-actuated shape-morphing is mostly limited to soft polymers.
- Rigid polymers offer greater structural integrity but lack bio-actuation capabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To program rigid azobenzene-containing liquid crystalline polymers (azo-LCPs) for body temperature-triggered shape deformation.
- To overcome the limitations of soft polymers in bio-actuated shape-morphing applications.
- To demonstrate the potential of these materials in biomedical and flexible electronic devices.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a mechano-assisted photo-programming strategy to induce residual stress in rigid azo-LCPs.
- Employed azobenzene isomerization to create a metastable state within the polymer.
- Investigated the effect of programming photomasks and irradiation conditions on shape outcomes.
Main Results:
- Achieved large-amplitude, body temperature-triggered shape changes in rigid azo-LCPs within minutes.
- Demonstrated the regeneration of programmed shape-morphing capabilities without performance loss.
- Successfully created diverse 2D to 3D shape-morphing architectures, including clips, inch-worms, and spirals.
- Showcased domain-selective activation and tailored characteristics in multi-domain azo-LCPs using polarized light.
Conclusions:
- The developed strategy enables body temperature-triggered shape deformation in rigid polymers.
- This advancement expands the utility of azo-LCPs for advanced applications.
- The technology holds promise for innovations in biomedical implants and flexible microelectronics.
Related Concept Videos
01:12Temperature Dependent Deformation
184
In a nonhomogeneous rod made up of steel and brass, restrained at both ends and subjected to a temperature change, several steps are involved in calculating the stress and compressive load. Due to the problem's static indeterminacy, one end support is disconnected, allowing the rod to experience the temperature change freely. Next, an unknown force is applied at the free end, triggering deformations in the rod's steel and brass portions. These deformations are then calculated and added...
184
01:21Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
3.0K
Unlike ionic or small covalent molecules, polymers do not form crystalline solids due to the diffusion limitations of their long-chain structures. However, polymers contain microscopic crystalline domains separated by amorphous domains.
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
3.0K
01:26Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity
2.5K
Polymerization generates chiral centers along the entire backbone of a polymer chain. Accordingly, the stereochemistry of the substituent group has a significant effect on polymer properties. Polymers formed from monosubstituted alkene monomers feature chiral carbons at every alternate position in the polymer backbone. Relative to the predominant orientation of substituents at the adjacent chiral carbons, the polymer can exist in three different configurations: isotactic, syndiotactic, and...
2.5K