Products Cited in Publications Worldwide A pH-Responsive Liquid Crystal Hydrogel Actuator with Calcium-Induced Reprogrammable Shape Fixing

A pH-Responsive Liquid Crystal Hydrogel Actuator with Calcium-Induced Reprogrammable Shape Fixing

Houben, Simon J. A.; Lugger, Sean J. D.; van Raak, Roel J. H.; Schenning, Albert P. H. J.

DOI:

Abstract

Soft polymer actuators have myriad applications and have therefore gained considerable attention in recent years. However, it remains challenging to prepare soft actuators with predefined shapes. Here, a bilayer polymer actuator with a (re)programmable shape is prepared from a microporous anisotropic polypropylene scaffold and a thin, pH-responsive liquid crystalline network (LCN) layer. The hydrogen bonds between dimerized benzoic acid derivatives in the LCN can be disrupted by an alk. treatment, resulting in a pH-responsive LCN hydrogel layer. The pH-responsive actuation is governed by both the anisotropic mech. properties of the scaffold and the cross-link d. of the LCN hydrogel. Ca2+ ions can be used to chem. cross-link the actuator resulting in an initial programmed shape. The shape fixing can be reversed by removing the Ca2+ ions with an EDTA (EDTA) solution The shape fixing can be performed locally, resulting in pH-responsive actuators with three-dimensional initial configurations of choice.

Keywords

polyolefins ; soft actuators ; pH-responsive materials ; reprogrammable ; liquid crystal polymers ; hydrogels ; hydrogen bond

Purchased from AmBeed

A11075983883-26-597%

4-((6-(Acryloyloxy)hexyl)oxy)benzoic acid

159.0/100g

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