Self-Jumping of a Liquid Crystal Elastomer Balloon under Steady Illumination

Abstract

Self-oscillation capable of maintaining periodic motion upon constant stimulus has potential applications in the fields of autonomous robotics, energy-generation devices, mechano-logistic devices, sensors, and so on. Inspired by the active jumping of kangaroos and frogs in nature, we proposed a self-jumping liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) balloon under steady illumination. Based on the balloon contact model and dynamic LCE model, a nonlinear dynamic model of a self-jumping LCE balloon under steady illumination was formulated and numerically calculated by the Runge–Kutta method. The results indicated that there exist two typical motion regimes for LCE balloon under steady illumination: the static regime and the self-jumping regime. The self-jumping of LCE balloon originates from its expansion during contact with a rigid surface, and the self-jumping can be maintained by absorbing light energy to compensate for the damping dissipation. In addition, the critical conditions for triggering self-jumping and the effects of several key system parameters on its frequency and amplitude were investigated in detail. The self-jumping LCE hollow balloon with larger internal space has greater potential to carry goods or equipment, and may open a new insight into the development of mobile robotics, soft robotics, sensors, controlled drug delivery, and other miniature device applications.

A light-powered self-rotating liquid crystal elastomer drill

“…Based on stimuli-responsive materials, including liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) [ 28 ], ionic gels [ 29 , 30 ], hydrogels [ 31 , 32 ], etc., diverse self-oscillating systems have been widely developed recently. Especially, there have been numerous attempts to construct a large number of self-sustained motion patterns, such as vibration [ 33 ], bending [ 34 , 35 ], rolling [ [36] , [37] , [38] ], spinning [ 39 ], torsion [ 40 ], shuttling [ 41 ], self-oscillating auxetic metamaterials [ 42 ], self-floating [ 43 ] and self-curling [ 44 ], shrinking [ 45 ], swimming [ 46 ], swinging [ 16 , 47 ], buckling [ 48 , 49 ], jumping [ 50 , 51 ], rotation [ 52 , 53 ], chaos [ 54 ] and even synchronized motion of coupled self-oscillators [ 55 ]. In these self-oscillating systems, some special mechanisms are generally required for absorbing energy from the external environment to compensate for the dissipation consumed by the system damping [ 1 ].…”

Vacuum Thermoforming of Optically Switchable Liquid Crystalline Elastomer Spherical Actuators

“…Due to the dynamic nature of the LCE, two hemispheres may be easily fused into one, and we demonstrate the formation of a complete sphere; such actuators have only been simulated to date. [38,39] Simulations describe the performance of LCE devices well [40,41] and predict a non-uniform distribution of thermal strain across the hemispher-ical shell formed by VT. Furthermore, actuator devices are fabricated suitable for light collection and redistribution for solar energy applications, water containers that can pour at will, and surfing devices responsive to specific wavelengths of light.…”

Self-Oscillating Liquid Crystal Elastomer Helical Spring Oscillator with Combined Tension and Torsion

“…In recent years, various stimuli-responsive materials have been used to synthesize self-oscillating systems, e.g., dielectric elastomers [ 15 ], hydrogels [ 16 , 17 ], ionic gels [ 18 ], thermally responsive polymer materials [ 19 ], and liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) [ 7 , 20 ], etc. Furthermore, a vast number of self-sustained motion modes have been constructed, such as bending [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ], buckling [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ], eversion or inversion [ 30 , 31 ], floating [ 32 , 33 ], jumping [ 34 , 35 , 36 ], rolling [ 8 , 37 , 38 , 39 ], curling [ 40 ], rotation [ 41 , 42 ], spinning [ 43 ], swimming [ 9 , 44 ], swinging [ 45 , 46 ], stretching and shrinking [ 21 , 47 , 48 ], snap-through [ 49 , 50 ], torsion [ 21 , 51 ], vibration [ 21 , 52 , 53 ], and even synchronized motion of several coupled self-oscillators [ 54 , 55 ]. These self-sustained motions often originate from nonlinear feedback mechanisms, including self-shadowing […”

“…Polymers 2023, 15, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 23 jumping [34][35][36], rolling [8,[37][38][39], curling [40], rotation [41,42], spinning [43], swimming [9,44], swinging [45,46], stretching and shrinking [21,47,48], snap-through [49,50], torsion [21,51], vibration [21,52,53], and even synchronized motion of several coupled self-oscillators [54,55]. These self-sustained motions often originate from nonlinear feedback mechanisms, including self-shadowing [27,31], coupling large deformation with chemical reaction [20], photothermal solvent evaporation [56], and photothermal surface tension gradients [57].…”