Printing Mosaics of Magnetically Programmed Liquid Crystal Directors for Reversibly Morphing Soft Matter

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel DLP 3D printing method that uses a reorientable magnetic field to precisely align liquid crystal molecules in elastomers, enabling the creation of smart, morphing structures with reversible actuation.

Contribution

It presents a new magnetic-field-assisted DLP printing technique for liquid crystal elastomers with controllable molecular orientation and reversible shape-changing capabilities.

Findings

Printed structures exhibit over 30% reversible thermal actuation.

Magnetic field alignment is achieved in seconds at room temperature.

The method allows for local, arbitrary LC alignment during printing.

Abstract

Liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) has been intensively utilized in 4D printing techniques to fabricate smart structures with reversible actuation on the basis of appropriate alignment of liquid crystal (LC) molecules. As a non-contact alignment strategy with a controllability of orientation, magnetic-field alignment has been rarely adapted in 4D printing of LCE because of its poor printing efficiency and demand on large field strength. Here, we report a digital light projection (DLP) system integrated with reorientable magnetic field to facilely print smart LCE structures. We propose a new LCE precursor solution that maintains a liquid crystalline nematic phase and an adequate flowability at room temperature. The resin prior to photopolymerization can be sufficiently aligned by a magnetic field with a strength of 500 mT in seconds without temperature elevating or cycling. Consequential printed structures are capable of presenting an impressive reversible thermal actuation of more than 30 %. The local and arbitrary magnetic-field alignment in layers during DLP printing is characterized, which renders us the ability to construct smart structures with more delicate LC alignments. Furthermore, we introduce the selective deformation of LCE structures with programmed molecular orientation using the photo-thermal effect. Our reported approach reveals the significant potential for fabricating morphing structures in various fields, including soft robotics, biomedical structures, and microelectronics. ({\dag}These authors contributed equally.)