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Localised Actuation in Composites Containing Carbon Nanotubes and Liquid Crystalline Elastomers
Author(s) -
Camargo Carlos J.,
Campanella Humberto,
Marshall Jean E.,
Torras Núria,
Zinoviev Kirill,
Terentjev Eugene M.,
Esteve Jaume
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201100578
Subject(s) - materials science , elastomer , carbon nanotube , composite material , liquid crystal , composite number , liquid crystalline , thermal , carbon fibers , nanotechnology , polymer , optoelectronics , meteorology , physics
A liquid crystalline elastomer–carbon nanotube (LCE‐CNT) composite displays a reversible shape change property in response to light. The development of some systems such as tactile devices requires localised actuation of this material. A method is reported that combines mechanical stretching and thermal crosslinking of an LCE‐CNT for creating sufficiently well‐aligned liquid crystal units to produce localised actuation. The method demonstrates that it is feasible to optically drive a LCE‐CNT film within a localised area, since only the walls of the stretched parts of the film contain aligned LC domains.