Electro-responsive Ionic Liquid Crystal Elastomers*

We will describe the preparation, physical properties and electric bending actuation of a new class of active materials - ionic liquid crystal elastomers (iLCEs). It is demonstrated that iLCEs can be actuated by low frequency AC or DC voltages of less than 1 V. The bending strains of the not optimized first iLCEs are already comparable to the well-developed ionic electroactive polymers (iEAPs). Additionally, iLCEs exhibit several novel and superior features, such as the alignment that increases the performance of actuation, the possibility of pre-programed actuation pattern at the level of cross-linking process, and dual (thermal and electric) actuations in hybrid samples. Since liquid crystal elastomers are also sensitive to magnetic fields, and can also be light sensitive, iLCEs have far-reaching potentials toward multi-responsive actuations that may have so far unmatched properties in soft robotics, sensing and biomedical applications.