Main chain liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are soft materials that undergo large anisotropic shape change in response to stimuli, making them compelling for incorporation into shape-responsive, weight-lifting, and dynamic therapeutic devices. Here, we introduce a family of main chain epoxy liquid crystal monomers (LCMs) that contain flexible carbon spacer chains ranging from 3C, 6C, and 11C in length, and we report their optical, mechanical, and thermal properties when they are polymerized into LCE epoxy films. The LCE epoxy films we describe are prepared using photocationic initiation, which is oxygen insensitive and heat-stable over several days at elevated temperatures, facilitating their applications in resin baths for forms of additive manufacturing that include 2-photon direct laser write (2P-DLW). A custom heated cell enables 2P-DLW of aligned LCE epoxy resin melts to fabricate diverse geometric arrays (Figure 1) that are then integrated into diacrylate-based LCE films to access hybrid forms of thermal actuation.

Shape-responsive main chain liquid crystalline epoxy elastomers

2019 Spring National Meeting

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