title: Humidity-responsive liquid crystalline polymer actuators with an asymmetry in the molecular trigger that bend, fold, and curl.
abstract: We show a versatile method for the preparation of a variety of humidity-responsive actuators based on a single sheet of a hydrogen-bonded, uniaxially aligned liquid crystal polymer network. In this approach, the asymmetry in the molecular trigger in the anisotropic polymer film plays a dominant role leading to programmed deformation events. The material is locally treated with a potassium hydroxide solution to create the asymmetry in the responsiveness toward humidity, which allows to prepare actuators that bend, fold, or curl.
authors.affiliation: Functional Organic Materials and Devices, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, and Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology , Den Dolech 2, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Laurens T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: de Haan
authors.forename: Julien M N
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Verjans
authors.forename: Dirk J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Broer
authors.forename: Cees W M
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Bastiaansen
authors.forename: Albertus P H J
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Schenning