Liquid Crystal Elastomers with Slide-Ring Polyrotaxane Cross-linkers
발표자
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초록
내용
In this study, we synthesized a new class of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) comprising various amount (0.3-2.0 wt%) of polyrotaxane (PRX) cross-linkers (LCE-PRX). In particular, we investigated the impact of the slide-ring PRX crosslinker on the mechanical properties and actuation performance of the LCEs. Interestingly, both stiffness and extensibility of the LCE-PRX can be considerably enhanced at lower PRX content (0.3-0.5 wt%) as compared to the pristine LCE, while the LCEs with higher PRX content (1.0-2.0 wt%) become more compliant. Both one- and two-way shape memory properties were further demonstrated using polydomain and monodomain LCE-PRX, respectively. Lastly, dynamic nature of PRX crosslinker allowed for the scratched surface of LCE-PRX to be thermally healed, which was not possible for the pristine LCE.