Influence of the porosity on the photoresponse of a liquid crystal elastomer

Azobenzene containing liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are among of the most prominent photoresponsive polymers due to their fast and reversible response to different light stimuli. To bring new functions into the present framework, novel modifications in bulk material morphology are required. Therefore, we produced azobenzene LCE free-standing films with different porosities. While the porosity provided macroscopic morphological changes, at the same time, it induced modifications in alignment of liquid crystal azobenzene units in the films. We found that a high porosity increased the photoresponse of the LCE in terms of bending angle with high significance. Moreover, the porous LCE films showed similar bending forces to those of pore-free LCE films.