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Thermal morphing of inflatable liquid crystal elastomer domes with kirigami-enabled programmability
Mengqi He1, Weicong Zhang1, Xiangren Kong1
1State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China. jqian@zju.edu.cn.
Soft Matter
|July 7, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed kirigami-patterned inflatable domes using liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs). These structures exhibit large, reversible shape changes in response to thermal stimuli, offering a new platform for soft actuators.
Area of Science:
- Soft Matter Physics
- Materials Science
- Mechanical Engineering
Background:
- Kirigami, the art of paper cutting, offers a method to program deformation in soft active materials.
- Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are stimuli-responsive materials that couple liquid crystalline order with elastic deformation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To create thermally responsive inflatable domes using kirigami-patterned LCEs.
- To investigate the influence of kirigami design and inflation pressure on dome morphing and mechanical properties.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of planar LCE membranes with various kirigami patterns (straight line, triangular, quadrilateral, hexagonal).
- Pneumatic inflation of the patterned membranes to form 3D domes.
- Systematic variation of kirigami geometry and inflation pressure to study deformation modes, height, and stiffness.
Main Results:
- Kirigami patterns enabled large, reversible shape morphing of LCE domes under thermal stimuli.
- Introduced cuts disrupted biaxial stress, promoting heterogeneous strain and influencing mesogen alignment.
- Cut geometry and inflation pressure significantly regulated dome height, deformation mode, and mechanical stiffness.
Conclusions:
- Kirigami-patterned LCE domes provide a scalable platform for high-performance soft actuators, adaptive surfaces, and morphing structures.
- Rational kirigami designs allow for simultaneous achievement of large and programmable shape morphing.
