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A Continuous Flow Synthesis of Micrometer‐Sized Actuators from Liquid Crystalline Elastomers
Author(s) -
Ohm Christian,
Serra Christophe,
Zentel Rudolf
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.200901522
Subject(s) - materials science , elastomer , microfluidics , isotropy , micrometer , dispersity , nanotechnology , liquid crystalline , phase transition , flow (mathematics) , actuator , polymer science , content (measure theory) , composite material , polymer chemistry , optics , mechanics , thermodynamics , computer science , polymer , physics , artificial intelligence , mathematical analysis , mathematics
We demonstrate the use of a microfluidic setup to prepare monodisperse and spherical beads from a liquid crystalline elastomer. These particles show a strong and reversible shape change into a cigar‐like conformation during the transition into the isotropic phase. These properies are a result of the monodomainic alignment of the mesogens in the flow field of the microfluidic setup.