Programmable liquid crystal elastomer matrix through photomechanical responses

Considering the dependence of photomechanical responses of liquid crystal elastomers on the director orientation, the performance controlling through director orientation design becomes possible. In this article, a programmable liquid crystal elastomer matrix is proposed to achieve the desired functions. First, a modeling framework about the spontaneous bending of liquid crystal elastomer square plate with arbitrary director orientation is developed. Three kinds of spontaneous bending configurations are obtained along with the variation of the director orientation, and the critical division of the director orientation is given. Based on the deformation characteristic, the director orientation of the liquid crystal elastomer matrix is programmed and several typical prototypical functions, such as 3D code or image display, are discussed. This work provides the guidance for the application of the liquid crystal elastomer in haptic display, braille display, remotely-controlled actuators, and codes.