Healable and multi driving mode soft actuator enabled by disulfide-bonded liquid crystal elastomers

Abstract

Due to the great potential in many applications, multi-responsive soft actuators as a kind of smart materials have attracted great interest from the scientific community. Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are gradually becoming their preferred candidate matrix because of their unique mesogenic anisotropy and polymer elasticity. Here, we designed and synthesized a new disulfide-bonded aromatic molecule (named DSAC), which was used to endow the LCE matrix with a self-healing effect to extend the service life. The large conjugate structure greatly reduces the bond energy of the disulfide bond, thus allowing self-healing to occur at a lower temperature. Furthermore, the LCE matrix was coated with a novel type of functional layer with photothermal and conductive properties to make it be driven by multi-modes. Based on the above, we have prepared a healable and dual-driving mode soft actuator enabled by disulfide-bonded liquid crystal elastomers with multiple stimulus–response properties, which shows great potential in flexible electronics, artificial muscles and soft robots.