Research On Optical Frequency Selective Optical Actuation Of Nano-metal-doped Liquid Crystal Elastomer

Liquid Crystal Elastomer(LCE)is a new type of intelligent deformation material.It can be deformed due to the change of the liquid crystal phase.The most direct method of driving this change is heating,but from the perspective of expanding the application environment of the liquid crystal elastomer material,heating is not an ideal method.In general,it is best to use a method that can drive the deformation of the liquid crystal elastomer remotely,conveniently,accurately and quick ly.Based on this consideration,light drive is an ideal choice.Noble metal nanoparticles have the characteristics of Surface Plasmon Resonance(SPR),and nano-gold and nano-silver have significant SPR absorption bands in the visible spectrum.In this work,the photoactuation properties of nano-gold-doped liquid crystal elastomer nanocomposites(Nano-Gold/LC E)and nano-silver-doped liquid crystal elastomer nanocomposites(Nano-Silver/LCE)were studied.Nano-Gold/LCE and Nano-Silver/LCE nanocomposites were successfully prepared by implanting nano-gold and nano-silver particles into a polyhydrogensiloxane liquid crystal elastomer matrix through a new technology developed by this group.Under quasi-daylight irradiation,the nanoparticle-loaded liquid crystal elastomer realizes efficient energy conversion from light energy to heat energy,so that the nanocomposite underwent rapid maximum axial contraction up to about one third of the original length.Under light irradiation,this photo-stimulated muscle-like actuation was fully reversible via the on–off switching of the light source.Based on this,the photoactuation properties of liquid crystal elastomer nanocomposites under different light intensities and different contents of nanometals were studied.Nano-Gold/LCE,Nano-Silver/LC E nanocomposites also show excellent optical nonlinear characteristics,showing their potential application and development in the field of optical technology.For example,they exhibit saturation absorption in their respective response bands and are expected to be used as saturatio n absorbers.In addition,the photo responses of nano-gold/LCE and nano-silver/LC E at 400nm-470 nm and 510nm-560 nm are significantly different.This work compares the selective photo-actuated deformation performance of two nano-metal doped liquid crystal elastomer materials under different wavelengths of light.Nano-gold and nano-silver double doped liquid crystal elastomer nano-composite material(Nano-gold-silver/LCE)was prepared by doping nano-gold and nano-silver on both sides of the same liquid crystal elastomer substrate and used for the light response of intelligent touchless electronic devices-the double response single pole double throw switch.Under the light irradiation,by using the filter to switch out the light in different wave bands,400nm-470 nm and 510nm-560 nm.Nano-gold-silver/LC E actuator can perform reversible deformation in different directions to filter different wavelengths of light,making the device output different signals.This work has achieved that by switching the wavelength of the irradiation light to controlled to perform different functions of the device.It breaks through the relatively inconvenient traditional way of making devices perform design functions by changing the light direction or position.Our work provides a new route for the convenient and accurate optical drive application of LC E driver,and broadens the application potential of LC E driver in intelligent devices,which is of great significance to the development of LCE in the field of materials and intelligent devices.