Exploring the Limits of Actuation Force Output of Stretch-based Deformation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomers*

Liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) films are amenable to surface-enforced alignment.^[1] Physical limits of surface-enforced alignment constrain the thickness of LCEs aligned by this approach to a maximum of 50 µm.^[2] The force output of stretch-based deformation of topologically patterned LCEs is enhanced with thickness, which we have previously accessed using a lamination approach for actuator fabrication.^[3] This contribution details our exploration of the boundaries of achieving high force actuation from these soft materials. We describe several facile approaches for accessing thick LCE actuators (>30x a standard film), including the preparation of devices with interlaid compliant electrodes that allow rapid electrothermal deformation in the multi-laminate LCEs.

[1] T. H. Ware, M. E. McConney, J. J. Wie, V. P. Tondiglia, T. J. White, Science 2015, 347, 982.
[2] C. D. Modes, K. Bhattacharya, M. Warner, Phys. Rev. E - Stat. Nonlinear, Soft Matter Phys. 2010, 81.
[3] T. Guin, M. J. Settle, B. A. Kowalski, A. D. Auguste, R. V Beblo, G. W. Reich, T. J. White, Nat. Commun. 2018, 9, 2531.