journal article·2023-11Open access

A 3D‐Printed Ferromagnetic Liquid Crystal Elastomer with Programmed Dual‐Anisotropy and Multi‐Responsiveness

Yuxuan Sun, Liu Wang, Zhengqing Zhu, Xingxiang Li, Hong Sun, Yong Zhao, Chenhui Peng, Ji Liu, Shiwu Zhang, Mujun Li

Advanced Materials· Volume 35· Issue 45

Abstract

Abstract Liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) and magnetic soft materials are promising active materials in many emerging fields, such as soft robotics. Despite the high demand for developing active materials that combine the advantages of LCE and magnetic actuation, the lack of independent programming of the LCE nematic order and magnetization in a single material still hinders the desired multi‐responsiveness. In this study, a ferromagnetic LCE (magLCE) ink with nematic order and magnetization is developed that can be independently programmed to be anisotropic, referred to as “dual anisotropy”, via a customized 3D‐printing platform. The magLCE ink is fabricated by dispersing ferromagnetic microparticles in the LCE matrix, and a 3D‐printing platform is created by integrating a magnet with 3‐DoF motion into an extrusion‐based 3D printer. In addition to magnetic fields, magLCEs can also be actuated by heating sources (either environmental heating or photo‐heating of the embedded ferromagnetic microparticles) with a high energy density and tunable actuation temperature. A programmed magLCE strip robot is demonstrated with enhanced adaptability to complex environments (different terrains, magnetic fields, and temperatures) using a multi‐actuation strategy. The magLCE also has potential applications in mechanical memory, as demonstrated by the multistable mechanical metastructure array with remote writability and stable memory.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Materials and Mechanics · Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · Micro and Nano Robotics

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation University of Science and Technology of China Hefei 230026 P. R. China

CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials Department of Modern Mechanics University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 P. R. China

State Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Mechanics Institute of Mechanics Chinese Academy of Science 15 Beisihuan West Road Beijing 100190 P. R. China

Department of Physics University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 P. R. China

Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology of China Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China

Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robotics and Intelligent Systems Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China

Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Intelligent Robotics and Flexible Manufacturing Systems Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China

Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Human‐Augmentation and Rehabilitation Robotics in Universities Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · National Key Research and Development Program of China · Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province · Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province

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