Physics – Condensed Matter – Soft Condensed Matter
Scientific paper
2001-11-22
Phys. Rev. E 65, 041720 (2002)
Physics
Condensed Matter
Soft Condensed Matter
10 pages, 11 EPS figures; Revtex 4
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevE.65.041720
A range of monodomain nematic liquid crystal elastomers containing differing proportions of photo-isomerisable mesogenic moieties, which turn from a rod-like to a kinked shape upon ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, was studied. Depending on the proportion and positional role of the photo-sensitive groups in the crosslinked polymer network, different types and magnitudes of response were found. The principle consequence of such photo-isomerisation is the destabilisation of the nematic phase, whose order parameter depends on temperature in a near-critical fashion. Accordingly, the effect of UV-irradiation is dramatically enhanced near the critical temperature, with the associated reduction in the nematic order parameter manifesting as a change in the macroscopic shape of the elastomer samples, producing a large uniaxial contraction. Theoretical analysis of this phenomenon gives a good quantitative agreement with experiment.
Hogan P. M.
Tajbakhsh A. R.
Terentjev Eugene M.
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