Berrow, S.R. orcid.org/0000-0003-3764-1613, Mandle, R.J. orcid.org/0000-0001-9816-9661, Raistrick, T. orcid.org/0000-0002-6227-6550 et al. (2 more authors) (2024) Toward Monodomain Nematic Liquid Crystal Elastomers of Arbitrary Thickness through PET-RAFT Polymerization. Macromolecules, 57 (11). pp. 5218-5229. ISSN 0024-9297
Abstract
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are polymeric materials that are proposed for a range of applications. However, to reach their full potential, it is desirable to have as much flexibility as possible in terms of the sample dimensions, while maintaining well-defined alignment. In this work, photoinduced electron/energy transfer reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (PET-RAFT) polymerization is applied to the synthesis of LCEs for the first time. An initial LCE layer (∼100 μm thickness) is partially cured before a second layer of the precursor mixture is added. The curing reaction is then resumed and is observed by FTIR to complete within 15 min of irradiation, yielding samples of increased thickness. Monodomain samples that exhibit an auxetic response and are of thickness 250–300 μm are consistently achieved. All samples are characterized thermally, mechanically, and in terms of their order parameters. The LCEs have physical properties comparable to those of analogous LCEs produced via free-radical polymerization.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Soft Matter Physics (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/V054724/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 May 2024 13:08 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jan 2025 15:47 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c00245 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:212587 |