Issue 25, 2020

Size of liquid metal particles influences actuation properties of a liquid crystal elastomer composite

Abstract

Composites of liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) that are electrically conductive have the potential to function as soft “artificial muscle” actuators that can be reversibly stimulated with electrical Joule-heating. Conductivity can be achieved by embedding the LCE with droplets of an alloy of gallium and indium that is liquid at room temperature. These soft artificial muscles are capable of >50% reversible actuation with an applied load. The key to actuation at high loadings of liquid metal (LM) is that the droplets deform with the surrounding matrix. By controlling the size of LM droplets through simple processing techniques, we show that the actuator properties of the LM–LCE muscle can be tuned. For example, composites with smaller liquid metal particles (ca. 10 μm or less) are stiffer than those with larger liquid metal particles (ca. >100 μm) and are capable of greater force output. However, smaller particles reduce actuation strain and composites with large particles exhibit significantly greater stroke length. Such tunability in actuation properties permits the fabrication of specialized soft artificial muscles, where processing of the composite controls actuation strain and actuation force.

Graphical abstract: Size of liquid metal particles influences actuation properties of a liquid crystal elastomer composite

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Feb 2020
Accepted
09 May 2020
First published
11 May 2020

Soft Matter, 2020,16, 5878-5885

Author version available

Size of liquid metal particles influences actuation properties of a liquid crystal elastomer composite

M. J. Ford, M. Palaniswamy, C. P. Ambulo, T. H. Ware and C. Majidi, Soft Matter, 2020, 16, 5878 DOI: 10.1039/D0SM00278J

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