Fig. 1: Design strategies and properties of stiffness-switchable chiral liquid crystal elastomer (SS-CLCE). | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Design strategies and properties of stiffness-switchable chiral liquid crystal elastomer (SS-CLCE).

From: Buprestidae metamorphosis-inspired stiffening photonic elastomers for shape-color integrated memory and information encryption

Fig. 1

a The inspiration derived from the metamorphosis process of the Buprestidae. b Schematics of network structures and molecular arrangements of conventional chiral nematic (N*) LCE. c Schematics of dynamic changes of network structures and molecular arrangements of SS-CLCE designed by this work. It also exhibits the local layered structure of the smectic C (SmC) phase and ordered crystalline (Cr). d Mechanical performance differences between conventional CLCE and SS-CLCE. e Physical crosslinking induced by phase transition enables the memory effect of SS-CLCEs. It should be noted that the conventional CLCE only involves the processes on the diagonal.

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