Fig. 1

Unloaded deformation of LCE laminates. a Chemical structures of: (1) the liquid crystal monomers (RM257, RM82) and (2) the dithiol additive. A mixture of 7:2 wt:wt of RM257:RM82 formed the basis of the liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs). b A 4 layer LCE laminate is optically clear. Scale bar is 1 cm. c The deformation of one, two, and four layer LCE laminates was measured in homogeneously aligned LCE films. 50% strain is observed in all three samples. d The height profiles for the single layer, double layer, and four layer LCE laminates are nearly identical over the 12 mm diameter of the films. Horizontal scale bar is 12 mm, vertical scale bar is 3.4 mm. e Height profiles of LCE laminates in which the individual layers were subject to directed self-assembly to organize into radial +1 topological defects. The LCE laminates were heated to 140 °C and imaged with an optical profilometer to quantify the deformation to thermal stimuli