Carbon nanotubes modified nanocomposites based on liquid crystalline elastomers

Abstract

Liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) are unique smart polymer materials which have attracted many research investigations. They exhibited exceptional physical properties due to the combination of rubber elasticity and liquid crystalline anisotropy, such as the reversible and controllable shape change and mechanical actuation under the external stimuli, and soft elasticity, etc. They have high potential of application in the field of actuators, soft robots, artificial muscles and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), etc. The formation of composites is an effective way to improve the performances of polymers and expand their application scope. Due to the unique structure and remarkable mechanical, electrical, thermal, and surface properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are often studied as a second phase to produce polymer nanocomposites with high performance. The studies on polymer nanocomposites based on LCEs and CNTs also have been strongly developed in recent years. The relevant research work aimed at different aspects including the preparation of CNT-LCE nanocomposites, the control of nanocomposite structure, the interaction between the CNTs and LCE matrices, the instillation of new physical properties into LCEs and the application of CNT-LCE nanocomposites, etc. This article reviews the exciting research work on these aspects, and some general and effective strategies for the development of CNT-LCE nanocomposites are summarized.