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Photocontrollable Liquid‐Crystalline Actuators
Author(s) -
Yu Haifeng,
Ikeda Tomiki
Publication year - 2011
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.201100131
Subject(s) - materials science , photochromism , elastomer , actuator , liquid crystal , copolymer , molecule , nanostructure , liquid crystalline , coupling (piping) , phase transition , phase (matter) , nanotechnology , smart material , optoelectronics , composite material , polymer , organic chemistry , condensed matter physics , chemistry , physics , electrical engineering , engineering
Coupling photochromic molecules with liquid crystalline (LC) materials enables one to reversibly photocontrol unique LC features such as phase transition, photoalignment, and molecular cooperative motion. LC elastomers show photomechanical and photomobile properties, directly converting light energy into mechanical energy. In well‐defined LC block copolymers, regular patternings of nanostructures in macroscopic scales are fabricated by photo‐manipulation of LC actuators.