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Soft Actuators Based on Liquid‐Crystalline Elastomers
Author(s) -
Yu Yanlei,
Ikeda Tomiki
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.200601760
Subject(s) - elastomer , actuator , materials science , replica , bending , lithography , micrometer , liquid crystalline , composite material , nanotechnology , molding (decorative) , mechanical engineering , polymer , optoelectronics , engineering , electrical engineering , art , visual arts
Molecules that twitch : Liquid‐crystalline elastomers (LCEs) show promise in applications as soft actuators, with advantages such as large deformations and high‐speed, two‐ (contraction) or three‐dimensional (bending) actions. Earlier systems were macroscopic (mm/cm) in size; however, a soft lithography technique called replica molding was recently used to create LCE pillars on the micrometer scale.