Optimized and Uniform Strain Control in Intrinsic Stretchable Mechanochromic Materials with Color‐ and Polarization‐Separating Encryption Using Kirigami Cuts and Rigid Strain‐Stoppers
Abstract Intrinsically stretchable devices often suffer from non‐uniform strain distributions under direct‐stretching conditions due to their large‐scale, patterned designs, leading to inconsistent performance. To address these issues, mechanochromic materials—substances that change color in response to strain—for precise and intuitive strain monitoring are employed. Leveraging this data, strategic design modifications, including extrinsic techniques such as rigid‐island with soft‐substrate and kirigami cuts are implemented, to mitigate strain non‐uniformity. Thus, highly desired uniform and homogenous strain control in a multi‐pixel stretchable system is achieved. By integrating these strain‐stopping with uniform strain control methods into arrays of rigid and soft chiral liquid crystal elastomers (CLCEs), effective color separation is demonstrated for encrypted information with enhanced strain uniformity and strain control. Additionally, the dynamic optical selectivity of circularly polarized light (CPL) of the CLCEs under specific conditions is explored, using uniaxial stretching to achieve both optical color changes and refined CPL separation. Consequently, leveraging the inherent optical properties of CLCEs, a uniform and highly functional multi‐pixel operating stretchable system is devised. The application of these extrinsic strain control strategies not only resolves issues of strain uniformity but also advances the field of stretchable smart materials, offering new possibilities for dynamic color‐ and polarization‐separating based on encrypted applications.
Authors
- Su Seok Choi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7297-0941)
- Seungmin Nam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6410-7729)
- Jun Hyuk Shin
- Dongjun Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5037-1801)
- Sang Hyun Han
- Hak Jun Yang
- Ji Yoon Park
Institutions
- Pohang University of Science and Technology (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2024-12-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202422772
- Citations
- 9
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.66
Funders
- Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy
- Samsung Science and Technology Foundation
- Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology