The richness of liquid crystal elastomer mechanics keeps growing

In recent years, the field of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) has grown considerably in size. Applications for these materials promise to be imminent, and yet many unknowns still surround some of their fundamental behaviours. In addition, new thermal and mechanical properties are continually being discovered. In this article, I review and summarise the key properties of an acrylate LCE developed during my PhD and compare them to the material from which it was derived – developed by the Uryama group. I highlight our material’s surprising negative Poission’s ratio and templateable properties and explore the possible structural roots of these behaviours.