Liquid Crystalline Hydrogel Capable of Thermally-induced Dual Actuation

Yi-Ming Chen; Yue Zhao

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3251-8

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Liquid Crystalline Hydrogel Capable of Thermally-induced Dual Actuation

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2025-07-14

- Liquid Crystalline Hydrogel Capable of Thermally-induced Dual Actuation
- Liquid Crystalline Hydrogel Capable of Thermally-induced Dual Actuation
- 高分子科学（英文） 2025年43卷第4期页码：563-571
- Affiliations：
  
  Département de chimie, Faculté des sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec J1K 2R1, Canada
- Author bio：
  
  yue.zhao@usherbrooke.ca
- Funds：
  
  Y.Z. acknowledges the financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), le Fonds de recherche du Québec: Nature et technologies (FRQNT), and The Centre québécois sur les matériaux fonctionnels. Y.C. is grateful to China Scholarship Council (CSC) for providing him with a scholarship to study and live in Canada.;Electronic supplementary information (ESI) is available free of charge in the online version of this article at http://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-025-3251-8.
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3251-8
  中图分类号：
- 收稿日期：2024-09-16，
  
  修回日期：2024-10-10，
  
  录用日期：2024-10-14，
  
  网络出版日期：2024-11-25，
  
  纸质出版日期：2025-04-01
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Chen, Y. M.; Zhao, Y. Liquid crystalline hydrogel capable of thermally-induced dual actuation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 563–571

Yi-Ming Chen, Yue Zhao. Liquid Crystalline Hydrogel Capable of Thermally-induced Dual Actuation[J]. Chinese journal of polymer science, 2025, 43(4): 563-571.
Chen, Y. M.; Zhao, Y. Liquid crystalline hydrogel capable of thermally-induced dual actuation. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 563–571 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3251-8.

Yi-Ming Chen, Yue Zhao. Liquid Crystalline Hydrogel Capable of Thermally-induced Dual Actuation[J]. Chinese journal of polymer science, 2025, 43(4): 563-571. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3251-8.

摘要

A liquid crystalline hydrogel (LCH) actuator capable of dual actuation in response to a single stimulus of heating or cooling is demonstrated using interpenetrating networks of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel and a main-chain liquid crystal elastomer (LCE).

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive shape-changing materials

particularly hydrogel and liquid crystal elastomer (LCE)

have demonstrated significant potential for applications across various fields. Although intricate deformation and actuation behaviors have been obtained in either hydrogels or LCEs

they typically undergo reversible shape change only once (

e.g.

one expansion plus one contraction) during one heating/cooling cycle. Herein

we report a study of a novel liquid crystalline hydrogel (LCH) and the achievement of dual actuation in a single heating/cooling cycle by integrating the characteristics of thermoresponsive hydrogel and LCE. The dual actuation behavior arises from the reversible volume phase transition of poly(

-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and the reversible order-disorder phase transition of LC mesogens in the LCH. Due to a temperature window separating the two transitions belonging to PNIPAM and LCE

LCH actuator can sequentially execute their respective actuation

thus deforming reversibly twice

during a heating/cooling cycle. The relative actuation degree of the two mechanisms is influenced by the mass ratio of PNIPAM to LCE in the LCH. Moreover

the initial shape of a bilayer actuator made with an active LCH layer and a passive polymer layer can be altered through hydration or dehydration of PNIPAM

which further modifies the dual actuation induced deformation. This work provides an example that shows the interest of developing LCH actuators.

关键词

Keywords

references

Theato, P.; Sumerlin, B. S.; O'Reilly, R. K.; Epps, T. H. 3 rd Stimuli responsive materials. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2013 , 42 , 7055−7056..

Roy, D.; Cambre, J. N.; Sumerlin, B. S. Future perspectives and recent advances in stimuli-responsive materials. Prog. Polym. Sci. 2010 , 35 , 278−301..

Moulin, E.; Faour, L.;Carmona-Vargas, C. C.; Giuseppone, N. From molecular machines to stimuli-responsive materials. Adv. Mater. 2020 , 32 , e1906036..

Ionov, L. Hydrogel-based actuators: possibilities and limitations. Mater. Today 2014 , 17 , 494−503..

Park, N.; Kim, J. Hydrogel-based artificial muscles: overview and recent progress. Adv. Intell. Syst. 2020 , 2 , 1900135..

Lee, Y.; Song, W. J.; Sun, J. Y. Hydrogel soft robotics. Mater. Today Phys. 2020 , 15 , 100258..

Liu, J.; Jiang, L.; He, S.; Zhang, J.; Shao, W. Recent progress in PNIPAM-based multi-responsive actuators: a mini-review. Chem. Eng. J. 2022 , 433 , 133496..

Tang, L.; Wang, L.; Yang, X.; Feng, Y.; Li, Y.; Feng, W. Poly( N -isopropylacrylamide)-based smart hydrogels: design, properties and applications. Prog. Mater Sci. 2021 , 115 , 100702..

Jeon, S. J.; Hauser, A. W.; Hayward, R. C. Shape-morphing materials from stimuli-responsive hydrogel hybrids. Acc. Chem. Res. 2017 , 50 , 161−169..

Kularatne, R. S.; Kim, H.; Boothby, J. M.; Ware, T. H. Liquid crystal elastomer actuators: synthesis, alignment, and applications. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55 , 395−411..

Ikeda, T.; Mamiya, J.; Yu, Y. Photomechanics of liquid-crystalline elastomers and other polymers. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007 , 46 , 506−28..

Zeng, H.; Wasylczyk, P.; Cerretti, G.; Martella, D.; Parmeggiani, C.; Wiersma, D. S. Alignmen t engineering in liquid crystalline elastomers: free-form microstructures with multiple functionalities. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2015 , 106 , 111902..

Hu, J.; Yu, M.; Wang, M.; Choy, K. L.; Yu, H. Design, regulation, and applications of soft actuators based on liquid-crystalline polymers and their composites. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022 , 14 , 12951−12963..

Shang, Y.; Wang, J.; Ikeda, T.; Jiang, L. Bio-inspired liquid crystal actuator materials. J. Mater. Chem. C 2019 , 7 , 3413−3428..

Nie, Z. Z.; Wang, M.; Yang, H. Structure-induced intelligence of liquid crystal elastomers. Chem. Eur. J. 2023 , 29 , e202301027..

Bao, J.; Wang, Z.; Song, C.; Zhang, Y.; Li, Z.; Zhang, L.; Lan, R.; Yang, H. Shape-programmable liquid-crystalline polyurethane-based multimode actuators triggered by light-driven molecular motors. Adv. Mater. 2023 , 35 , e2302168..

Le, X.; Lu, W.; Zhang, J.; Chen, T. Recent progress in biomimetic anisotropic hydrogel actuators. Adv. Sci. 2019 , 6 , 1801584..

Jiao, D.; Zhu, Q. L.; Li, C. Y.; Zheng, Q.; Wu, Z. L. Programmable morphing hydrogels for soft actuators and robots: from structure designs to active functions. Acc. Chem. Res. 2022 , 55 , 1533−1545..

Huang, Y.; Xu, Y.; Bisoyi, H. K.; Liu, Z.; Wang, J.; Tao, Y.; Yang, T.; Huang, S.; Yang, H.; Li, Q. Photocontrollable elongation actuation of liquid crystal elastomer films with well-defined crease structures. Adv. Mater. 2023 , 35 , e2304378..

Xiao, Y. Y.; Jiang, Z. C.; Hou, J. B.; Zhao, Y. Desynchronized liquid crystalline network actuators with deformation reversal capability. Nat. Commun. 2021 , 12 , 624..

Zhang, Y.; Liu, K.; Liu, T.; Ni, C.; Chen, D.; Guo, J.; Liu, C.; Zhou, J.; Jia, Z.; Zhao, Q.; Pan, P.; Xie, T. Differential diffusion driven far-from-equilibrium shape-shifting of hydrogels. Nat. Commun. 2021 , 12 , 6155..

Liu, C.; Qin, H.; Mather, P. T. Review of progress in shape-memory polymers. J. Mater. Chem. 2007 , 17 , 1543−1558..

Zhao, Q.; Qi, H. J.; Xie, T. Recent progress in shape memory polymer: new behavior, enabling materials, and mechanistic understanding. Prog. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 49 , 79−120..

Scalet, G. Two-way and multiple-way shape memory polymers for soft robotics: an overview. Actuators 2020 , 9 , 10..

Behl, M.; Bellin, I.; Kelch, S.; Wagermaier, W.; Lendlein, A. One-step process for creating triple-shape capability of AB polymer networks. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2008 , 19 , 102−108..

Xie, T. Tunable polymer multi-shape memory effect. Nature 2010 , 464 , 267−270..

Zhao, Q.; Behl, M.; Lendlein, A. Shape-memory polymers with multiple transitions: complex actively moving polymers. Soft Matter 2013 , 9 , 1744−1755..

Kaneko, T.; Yamaoka, K.; Osada, Y.; Gong, J. P. Thermoresponsive shrinkage triggered by mesophase transition in liquid cry stalline physical hydrogels. Macromolecules 2004 , 37 , 5385−5388..

Kularatne, R. S.; Kim, H.; Ammanamanchi, M.; Hayenga, H. N.; Ware, T. H. Shape-morphing chromonic liquid crystal hydrogels. Chem. Mater. 2016 , 28 , 8489−8492..

Shishmanova, I. K.; Bastiaansen, C. W.; Schenning, A. P.; Broer, D. J. Two-dimensional pH-responsive printable smectic hydrogels. Chem. Commun. 2012 , 48 , 4555−4557..

Stumpel, J. E.; Gil, E. R.; Spoelstra, A. B.; Bastiaansen, C. W. M.; Broer, D. J.; Schenning, A. P. H. J. Stimuli-responsive materials based on interpenetrating polymer liquid crystal hydrogels. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2015 , 25 , 3314−3320..

Torbati, A. H.; Mather, P. T. A hydrogel-forming liquid crystalline elastomer exhibiting soft shape memory. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 54 , 38−52..

Zhou, Y.; Sharma, N.; Deshmukh, P.; Lakhman, R. K.; Jain, M.; Kasi, R. M. Hierarchically structured free-standing hydrogels with liquid crystalline domains and magnetic nanoparticles as dual ph ysical cross-linkers. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012 , 134 , 1630−1641..

Houben, S. J. A.; Lugger, S. J. D.; van Raak, R. J. H.; Schenning, A. P. H. J. A pH-responsive liquid crystal hydrogel actuator with calcium-induced reprogrammable shape fixing. ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2022 , 4 , 1298−1304..

Thomsen, D. L.; Keller, P.; Naciri, J.; Pink, R.; Jeon, H.; Shenoy, D.; Ratna, B. R. Liquid crystal elastomers with mechanical properties of a muscle. Macromolecules 2001 , 34 , 5868−5875..

Yao, Y.; He, E.; Xu, H.; Liu, Y.; Yang, Z.; Wei, Y.; Ji, Y. Enabling liquid crystal elastomers with tunable actuation temperature. Nat. Commun. 2023 , 14 , 3518..

Jiang, H.; Li, C.; Huang, X. Actuators based on liquid crystalline elastomer materials. Nanoscale 2013 , 5 , 5225−5240..

Lu, H. F.; Wang, M.; Chen, X. M.; Lin, B. P.; Yang, H. Interpenetrating liquid-crystal polyurethane/polyacrylate elastomer with ultrastrong mechanical property. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019 , 141 , 14364−14369..

Yang, R.; Zhao, Y. Non-uniform optical inscription of actuation domains in a liquid crystal polymer of uniaxial orientation: an approach to complex and programmable shape changes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017 , 129 , 14390−14394..

Chen, Y.; Jiang, J.; Zhao, Y. Liquid crystalline hydrogel actuator with positive thermal expansion and negative order parameter of mesogens over order-disorder phase transition. Macromolecules 2024, 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c01464..

Ohm, C.; Brehmer, M.; Zentel, R. Liquid crystalline elastomers as actuators and sensors. Adv. Mater. 2010 , 22 , 3366−3387..

Cao-Luu, N. H.; Pham, Q. T.; Yao, Z. H.; Wang, F. M.; Chern, C. S. Synthesis and characterization of poly( N -isopropylacrylamide- co -acrylamide) mesoglobule core-silica shell nanoparticles. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 2019 , 536 , 536−547..

Colaco, R.; Appiah, C.; Staubitz, A. Controlling the LCST-phase transition in azobenzene-functionalized poly( N -isopropylacrlyamide) hydrogels by light. Gels 2023 , 9 , 75..

浏览量

Downloads

CSCD

文章被引用时，请邮件提醒。

Submit

工具集

关联资源

Active Pillar Array Structure by Solvent-free Liquid Crystal Elastomer Resin

Soft Crawling and Flipping Robots Based on Liquid Metal-Liquid Crystal Elastomer Composites

Investigating the Influence of Printing Parameters on the Helical Deformation of 4D-printed Liquid Crystal Elastomer Fiber-actuators