Shape Changes of Liquid Crystal Elastomers Swollen by Low Molecular Weight Liquid Crystal Drops

An elastomer swelling actuator deforms by absorbing fluid, thus generating mechanical movement. It is shown that depositing small droplets of low molecular weight liquid crystal on liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) films leads to shape changes and bending actuation. It is found that the radially symmetric LCE director alignments provide radially symmetric hat shapes while swelling LCEs with uniform director structure lead to arch shapes. Hybrid samples (different director alignments on two sides) lead to more complicated bent shapes. All the observed shapes can be explained by the diffusion that mainly progresses along the direction normal to the director of the LCE. The swelling induced bending force elevates the top of the swollen LCE up to a factor of 30, providing a powerful and long-lasting actuation. These observations may lead to applications in various fields, like sealants, soft robotics, and biomedical devices.