Influence of external loads on structure and photoactuation in densely crosslinked azo-incorporated liquid crystalline polymers

Publication date: 27 October 2017
Source:Polymer, Volume 129
Author(s): Chenzhe Li, Junghwan Moon, Jung-Hoon Yun, Hyunsu Kim, Maenghyo Cho
The strain generated by photoresponsive polymer actuators under external applied loads is a key performance parameter. Herein, we investigated the photogenerated strain under uniaxial loads in densely crosslinked azobenzene-incorporated liquid crystalline polymer (azo-LCP) actuators. Spectral analysis indicated that the liquid crystalline (LC) moieties and incorporated azobenzene moieties behave independently under load. The degree of LC mesogen distortions decreased as the applied load increased, whereas azobenzene isomerization showed high tolerance towards the external load. Such stress-response differences led to universal "two-stage" photogenerated strain behavior, with rapid decreases under low applied loads and steady linear decreases under relatively high loads. More importantly, we found that light intensity has little influence on important parameters such as the loading stage and actuator failure stress. However, these properties could be optimized by changing the crosslinking density (either azobenzene or side-chain LC concentration) in the polymeric network.

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