Reducing the actuation threshold by incorporating a nonliquid crystal chain into a liquid crystal elastomer

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are important smart materials that can undergo reversible deformation in response to liquid crystal (LC) phase transitions. A low threshold temperature for LC phase transition is advantageous because the LCE material can be more conveniently actuated by the applied stimulus. In this work, we investigated the effect of a nonliquid crystal chain on the reduction of threshold temperature of the LC phase transition by linking a nonliquid crystal side chain, 4-methoxyphenyl-1-hexenyloxy (MOCH(3)), to the network backbone of a classical polysiloxane-based side-chain nematic LCE. The nematic–isotropic transition temperature (T(ni)) of the MOCH(3) incorporated nematic LCE was lower than that of the normal nematic LCE without the incorporation of a nonliquid crystal chain by about 27 °C. Compared to the normal nematic LCE or its nanocomposite, the MOCH(3) incorporated nematic LCE or its nanocomposite demonstrated more rapid thermo-actuated deformation or photo-actuated deformation, and can be actuated to attain full axial contraction at an obviously lowered temperature or by light with obviously lowered intensity, while the maximum contraction ratio basically did not vary. These research results indicate that some nonliquid crystal chains show potential for improving the characteristics and enhancing the application significance of LCE materials.