Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal elastomers as moldable shape-programmable material

Development of Soft shape-memory materials is often limited to the synthesis of two-dimensional specimens and rely on bending mechanisms and scaffolding topology to perform three-dimensional morphing. Here, the authors demonstrate a shape-memory composite material made from main-chain liquid crystal...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Matej Bobnar, Nikita Derets, Saide Umerova, Valentina Domenici, Nikola Novak, Marta Lavrič, George Cordoyiannis, Boštjan Zalar, Andraž Rešetič
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2023-02-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36426-y
Description
Summary:Development of Soft shape-memory materials is often limited to the synthesis of two-dimensional specimens and rely on bending mechanisms and scaffolding topology to perform three-dimensional morphing. Here, the authors demonstrate a shape-memory composite material made from main-chain liquid crystal elastomer microparticles dispersed in a silicone polymer matrix which enables molding into full-volume objects of any shape or size.
ISSN:2041-1723