Optical Mechanotransduction with Carbazole‐Based Luminescent Liquid Single‐Crystal Elastomers

García-Amorós, Jaume; Velasco, Dolores

doi:10.1002/marc.201400734

Cited by 9 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…One of the parameters that influences the mechanoluminescence exhibited by carbazole-based LSCEs is the concentration of the organic fluorophore incorporated into the elastomeric network [19]. In order to illustrate this point, three different elastomers will be initially considered, which contain increasing amounts of 9-(5-hexenyl)-9H-carbazole as the fluorogenic component.…”

Section: Fluorophore Content In the Elastomeric Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fluorophore Content In the Elastomeric Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this purpose, the intermolecular interactions established between the mesogenic molecules and rationally designed luminescent labels must be altered upon the application or release of a mechanical stimulus [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. In this way, the introduction of selected organic fluorophores into this type of self-organized polymeric system enables the modulation of the amount of light emitted in the form of fluorescence upon deformation, giving rise to LSCE-based optical force sensors [19]. To the best of our knowledge, only two examples of LSCE-based optical force sensors have been reported in addition to the ones described herein.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Structural Features Guiding the Design of Liquid-Crystalline Elastomeric Fluorescent Force Sensors

García-Amorós

Velasco

2020

ASI

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Liquid single crystal elastomers (LSCEs) containing carbazole fluorogenic components alter their luminescence when they are stretched along the director direction. The differential luminescent behavior arises from the distinct interaction between the carbazole fluorophores and their local environment before and after the application of the mechanical input. Indeed, the uniaxial deformation of the material, along its anisotropic direction, forces a closer mesogen–fluorophore interaction, which leads to the quenching of the carbazole luminescence. Importantly, this intermolecular interaction is intimately related to the intrinsic order present in the LSCE. As a result, the amount of light emitted by the material in the form of fluorescence diminishes upon deformation. Thus, the application of mechanical stimuli to liquid-crystalline elastomers furnishes to two interconvertible states for the system with distinct optical properties (with either different emission color or fluorescence intensity). The initial state of the material is completely restored once the applied force is removed. In this way, this kind of macromolecular system can transduce mechanical events into detectable and processable optical signals, thus, having great potential as optical force sensors. In this context, the realization of the distinct structural factors that govern the interactions established between the mesogenic and fluorogenic units at the supramolecular level upon deformation is essential for the development of efficient LSCE-based force sensors. In fact, not only the density of carbazole units and their connection to the main polymer backbone, but also the presence of long range molecular order in the system and the type of mesophase exhibited by the LSCE are key factors for the conception of efficient force sensors based on these self-organized polymer networks. In this review, we present a comprehensive and systematic description of the different features that control the mechanoluminescent behavior of fluorescent liquid-crystalline elastomers and will guide the future design of LSCE-based force sensors with improved performances.

show abstract

Section: Fluorophore Content In the Elastomeric Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fluorophore Content In the Elastomeric Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Structural Features Guiding the Design of Liquid-Crystalline Elastomeric Fluorescent Force Sensors

García-Amorós

Velasco

2020

ASI

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The incorporation of organic fluorophores such as carbazole into nematic liquid single crystal elastomers (LSCEs), i.e., LCEs exhibiting a macroscopic orientation of the director, permits to tune the material luminescence under mechanical control, thereby giving rise to optical mechanotransducers. However, although this protocol has been exploited to design a variety of transducing materials, they show only moderate variations in their fluorescence upon deformation or require elevated temperatures to operate …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

although this protocol has been exploited to design a variety of transducing materials, they show only moderate variations in their fluorescence upon deformation [13,14] or require elevated temperatures to operate. [15] Nanoscale engineering can be utilized for unveiling the ultimate performance of these smart sensors.

…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Smectic‐B Liquid Single Crystal Elastomers as Efficient Optical Mechanotransducers

Escalera‐López

García-Amorós

Velasco

2018

Macro Chemistry & Physics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Carbazole‐based liquid single‐crystal elastomers (LSCEs) are valuable materials to convert mechanical forces into optical signals, i.e., optical mechanotransduction. The identification and rationalization of the different structural factors governing the mechanotransduction process are essential to guide the future design of these smart sensing materials. Herein, how the type of mesophase displayed by the elastomer impacts its transducing capabilities is explored. Remarkably, smectic‐B LSCEs are significantly more efficient mechanotransducers than their nematic analogs, independent of the length of the flexible spacer that connects the fluorogenic monomers to the main polymeric backbone. In this instance, the fluorogenic moieties are located within the smectic lamellae formed by the mesogenic units, thereby forcing a stronger interaction between both the platforms and resulting in a much more effective fluorescence quenching upon deformation.

show abstract

Transparency Change Mechanochromism Based on a Robust PDMS‐Hydrogel Bilayer Structure

Zeng

Xian

et al. 2020

Macromol. Rapid Commun.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

transparency, excellent resistance to UV radiation, high chemical stability, and reasonably low cost. [1-4] The fabrication of PDMS parts is typically a rapid-prototyping process often achieved by molding or spin-coating a viscous prepolymer with a curing agent. The cross-linking degree depends on the ratio of the prepolymer and the curing agent, which endows PDMS with tunable elastic modulus and stretchability. These characteristics make PDMS one of the most popular stretchable and transparent substrates for biomedical, mechanochromic, and photoelectric devices. [5-7,8] However, the hydrophobic nature of PDMS is a significant obstacle for its combination with hydrophilic materials requiring a strong interfacial adhesion. Various methods have been reported to improve the surface hydrophilicity of PDMS, including surface oxidization via plasma [9-11] or UV-ozone treatment, [12,13] silanization treatment, [14,15] and surface coating with hydrophilic materials. [16,17] Unfortunately, the surface hydrophilicity of PDMS generated by the above methods is typically temporary, which usually only Hydrogels and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) are complementary to each other, since the hydrophobic PDMS provides a more stable and rigid substrate, while the water-rich hydrogel possesses remarkable hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and similarity to biological tissues. Herein a transparent and stretchable covalently bonded PDMS-hydrogel bilayer (PHB) structure is prepared via in situ free radical copolymerization of acrylamide and allylamineexfoliated-ZrP (AA-e-ZrP) on a functionalized PDMS surface. The AA-e-ZrP serves as cross-linking nano-patches in the polymer gel network. The covalently bonded structure is constructed through the addition reaction of vinyl groups of PDMS surface and monomers, obtaining a strong interfacial adhesion between the PDMS and the hydrogel. A mechanical-responsive wrinkle surface, which exhibs transparency change mechanochromism, is created via introducing a cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol film atop the PHB structure. A finite element model is implemented to simulate the wrinkle formation process. The implication of the present finding for the interfacial design of the PHB and PDMS-hydrogel-PVA trilayer (PHPT) structures is discussed.

show abstract

Optical Mechanotransduction with Carbazole‐Based Luminescent Liquid Single‐Crystal Elastomers

Cited by 9 publications

References 39 publications

Structural Features Guiding the Design of Liquid-Crystalline Elastomeric Fluorescent Force Sensors

Structural Features Guiding the Design of Liquid-Crystalline Elastomeric Fluorescent Force Sensors

Smectic‐B Liquid Single Crystal Elastomers as Efficient Optical Mechanotransducers

Transparency Change Mechanochromism Based on a Robust PDMS‐Hydrogel Bilayer Structure

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About