Liquid crystall elastomers as artificial muscles: role of side-chain-backbone coupling

Banahalli R. Ratna; D. Laurence Thomsen III; Patrick Keller

doi:10.1117/12.432651

16 July 2001 Liquid crystall elastomers as artificial muscles: role of side-chain-backbone coupling

Banahalli R. Ratna, D. Laurence Thomsen III, Patrick Keller

Proceedings Volume 4329, Smart Structures and Materials 2001: Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.432651
Event: SPIE's 8th Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials, 2001, Newport Beach, CA, United States

Abstract

Ordered liquid crystal elastomer films exhibit anisotropic deformations on macroscopic length scales on changing the orientational order of the liquid crystal group by external stimuli such as temperature and electric field. We have developed laterally attached side-chain nematic elastomers with mechanical properties approaching stress, strain and time scale of skeletal muscle activation. The mechanical and structural characterization has led to the ability to improve desired physical properties such as backbone extension and coupling between the backbone and liquid crystal side chain. We have studied the effect of the coupling length on the change in the conformational entropy of the backbone and the viscoelastic behavior. In this paper we discuss the results of our stress relaxation tests.

Citation Download Citation

Banahalli R. Ratna, D. Laurence Thomsen III, and Patrick Keller "Liquid crystall elastomers as artificial muscles: role of side-chain-backbone coupling", Proc. SPIE 4329, Smart Structures and Materials 2001: Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices, (16 July 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.432651

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