Abstract
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) offer significant promise as soft actuator materials, but their potential has not yet been fully explored for 4D printing applications. Most existing studies rely on extrusion-based printing methods, which offer limited resolution and impose constraints on fabricating intricate, free-standing structures. Moreover, it remains a significant challenge to design and spatially control liquid crystal orientation within complex 3D structures to achieve desired shape transformations. To address these challenges, this study introduces a 4D printing strategy that combines two-stage UV-curable LCEs with vat photopolymerization-based 3D printing, such as digital light processing (DLP). The LCE can be initially printed into complex geometries with high precision, followed by a post-printing programming step in which mechanical deformation is applied to the printed structure to define the desired shape. A subsequent thermal treatment forms covalent linkages to lock the programmed configuration. The resulting structures can reversibly transition between the printed and programmed configurations upon temperature change. This 4D printing strategy is shown to overcome key limitations of current approaches and significantly broaden the design space and functional potential of programmable shape-changing structures for various applications, including mechanically active metamaterials, morphing architecture, and soft robotics.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated in this study are provided in the Supplementary Information Source data file. Data are available from the corresponding author on request. Source data are provided with this paper.
References
Yue, L. et al. Cold-programmed shape-morphing structures based on grayscale digital light processing 4D printing. Nat. Commun. 14, 5519 (2023).
Ren, L. et al. 4D printed self-sustained soft crawling machines fueled by constant thermal field. Adv. Funct. Mater. 34, 2400161 (2024).
Lui, Y. S. et al. 4D printing and stimuli-responsive materials in biomedical aspects. Acta Biomater. 92, 19–36 (2019).
Ntouanoglou, K., Stavropoulos, P. & Mourtzis, D. 4D printing prospects for the aerospace industry: a critical review. Procedia Manuf. 18, 120–129 (2018).
Ge, Q. et al. Multimaterial 4D printing with tailorable shape memory polymers. Sci. Rep. 6, 31110 (2016).
Zhang, W. et al. Structural multi-colour invisible inks with submicron 4D printing of shape memory polymers. Nat. Commun. 12, 112 (2021).
Yiqi, M. A. O. Sequential self-folding structures by 3D printed digital shape memory polymers. Sci. Rep. 5, 13616 (2015).
Yanlei, H. U. Botanical-inspired 4D printing of hydrogel at the microscale. Adv. Funct. Mater. 30, 1907377 (2020).
Hao, Z. H. A. O. Biomimetic 4D-printed breathing hydrogel actuators by nanothylakoid and thermoresponsive polymer networks. Adv. Funct. Mater. 31, 2105544 (2021).
Shakibania, S., Ghazanfari, L., Raeeszadeh-Sarmazdeh, M. & Khakbiz, M. Biomimetic 4D printing. Nat. Mater. 15, 413–418 (2016).
Qiji, Z. E. Magnetic shape memory polymers with integrated multifunctional shape manipulation. Adv. Mater. 32, 1906657 (2020).
Chunping, M. A. Magnetic multimaterial printing for multimodal shape transformation with tunable properties and shiftable mechanical behaviors. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 13, 12639–12648 (2020).
Kim, Y., Yuk, H., Zhao, R., Chester, S. A. & Zhao, X. Printing ferromagnetic domains for untethered fast-transforming soft materials. Nature 558, 274–279 (2018).
Jiang, H., Chung, C., Dunn, M. L. & Yu, K. 4D printing of liquid crystal elastomer composites with continuous fiber reinforcement. Nat. Commun. 15, 8491 (2024).
Javed, M. et al. Programmable shape change in semicrystalline liquid crystal elastomers. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14, 35087–35096 (2022).
Xirui, P. E. N. G. 4D printing of freestanding liquid crystal elastomers via hybrid additive manufacturing. Adv. Mater. 34, 2204890 (2022).
Maurin, V. et al. Liquid crystal elastomer–liquid metal composite: ultrafast, untethered, and programmable actuation by induction heating. Adv. Mater. 36, 2302765 (2024).
Chen, M., Hou, Y., An, R., Qi, H. J. & Zhou, K. 4D printing of reprogrammable liquid crystal elastomers with synergistic photochromism and photoactuation. Adv. Mater. 36, 2303969 (2024).
Chen, M. et al. Recent advances in 4D printing of liquid crystal elastomers. Adv. Mater. 35, 2209566 (2023).
Ula, S. W. et al. Liquid crystal elastomers: an introduction and review of emerging technologies. Liq. Cryst. Rev. 6, 78–107 (2018).
Herbert, K. M. et al. Synthesis and alignment of liquid crystalline elastomers. Nat. Rev. Mater. 7, 23–38 (2022).
Telles, R. et al. Spatially programmed alignment and actuation in printed liquid crystal elastomers. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 122, e2414960122 (2025).
Wang, Z. et al. Three-dimensional printing of functionally graded liquid crystal elastomer. Sci. Adv. 6, eabc0034 (2020).
Ambulo, C. P. et al. Four-dimensional printing of liquid crystal elastomers. ACS Appl. Mater. interfaces 9, 37332–37339 (2017).
Mistry, D. et al. Soft-elasticity optimises dissipation in 3D-printed liquid crystal elastomers. Nat. Commun. 12, 6677 (2021).
Saadi, M. et al. Direct ink writing: a 3D printing technology for diverse materials. Adv. Mater. 34, 2108855 (2022).
Luo, C. et al. 3D printing of liquid crystal elastomer foams for enhanced energy dissipation under mechanical insult. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 13, 12698–12708 (2020).
Traugutt, N. A. et al. Liquid-crystal-elastomer-based dissipative structures by digital light processing 3D printing. Adv. Mater. 32, 2000797 (2020).
Guan, Z., Wang, L. & Bae, J. Advances in 4D printing of liquid crystalline elastomers: materials, techniques, and applications. Mater. Horiz. 9, 1825–1849 (2022).
Fowler, H. E., Rothemund, P., Keplinger, C. & White, T. J. Liquid crystal elastomers with enhanced directional actuation to electric fields. Adv. Mater. 33, 2103806 (2021).
Herman, J. A. et al. Digital light process 3D printing of magnetically aligned liquid crystalline elastomer free–forms. Adv. Mater. 36, 2414209 (2024).
Saed, M. O., Torbati, A. H., Nair, D. P. & Yakacki, C. M. Synthesis of programmable main-chain liquid-crystalline elastomers using a two-stage thiol-acrylate reaction. J. Vis. Exp. 107, 53546 (2016) .
Mouhoubi, R., Dieudonné-Georges, P., Arnould, O., Lapinte, V. & Blanquer, S. Toward DLP 4D printing of liquid crystal elastomers: tailored properties via non-mesogenic linkers. Eur. Polym. J. 223, 113648 (2025).
Zhan, Y., Broer, D. J., Li, J., Xue, J. & Liu, D. A. Cold-responsive liquid crystal elastomer provides visual signals for monitoring a critical temperature decrease. Mater. Horiz. 10, 2649–2655 (2023).
Hyun, K. I. M., Jennifer, M. B., Sarvesh, R., Cameron, D. L. & Taylor, H. W. Tough, shape-changing materials: crystallized liquid crystal elastomers. Macromolecules 50, 4267–4275 (2017).
Lu, H. F. et al. Interpenetrating liquid-crystal polyurethane/polyacrylate elastomer with ultrastrong mechanical property. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 141, 14364–14369 (2019).
Chung, C., Jiang, H. & Yu, K. Mesogen organizations in nematic liquid crystal elastomers under different deformation conditions. Small 20, 2402305 (2024).
Kai, Y. U. et al. Mechanisms of multi-shape memory effects and associated energy release in shape memory polymers. Soft Matter 8, 5687–5695 (2012).
Yu, K., Ge, Q., Jerry Qi, H. Reduced time as a unified parameter determining fixity and free recovery of shape memory polymers. Nat. Commun. 5, 3066 (2014).
Luo, C., Chung, C., Yakacki, C. M., Long, K. & Yu, K. Real-time alignment and reorientation of polymer chains in liquid crystal elastomers. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14, 1961–1972 (2021).
Hanzon, D. W. et al. Adaptable liquid crystal elastomers with transesterification-based bond exchange reactions. Soft Matter 14, 951–960 (2018).
Bolterauer, C. & Heller, H. Calculation of IR dichroic values and order parameters from molecular dynamics simulations and their application to structure determination of lipid bilayers. Eur. Biophys. J. 24, 322–334 (1996).
Bertoldi, K., Reis, P. M., Willshaw, S. & Mullin, T. Negative Poisson’s ratio behavior induced by an elastic instability. Adv. Mater. 22, 361–366 (2010).
Zhi, T. A. O. A novel auxetic acoustic metamaterial plate with tunable bandgap. Int. J. Mech. Sci. 226, 107414 (2022).
Minghui, F. U., Jingxiang, H., Binbin, Z., Yanmao, C. & Ce, H. Three-dimensional auxetic materials with controllable thermal expansion. Smart Mater. Struct. 29, 085034 (2020).
Rong, Y. U. Experimental and numerical research on foam filled re-entrant cellular structure with negative Poisson’s ratio. Thin Walled Struct. 153, 106679 (2020).
Guangdong, S. U. I., Xiaobiao, S., Chunyu, Z., Hengyu, L. I. & Tinghai, C. Enhancing output performance of piezoelectric nanogenerator via negative Poisson’s ratio effect. Nano Energy 130, 110071 (2024).
Kuan, L., Shaojie, Z., Yangjun, L. U. O., Xiaopeng, Z. & Zhan, K. Topology optimization design of recoverable bistable structures for energy absorption with embedded shape memory alloys. Thin Walled Struct. 198, 111757 (2024).
Xiao, J. U., Shaoqi, L. I., Yu, Z., Penghao, W. U. & Yancheng, L. I. Design of multi-stable metamaterial cell with improved and programmable energy trapping ability based on frame reinforced curved beams. Thin Walled Struct. 202, 112120 (2024).
Jun, H. U. Springtail-inspired light-driven soft jumping robots based on liquid crystal elastomers with monolithic three-leaf panel fold structure. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 62, e202218227 (2023).
Acknowledgements
K.Y. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (CAREER Award CMMI−2046611, K.Y.). K.Y. and M.D. acknowledge the support of AFOSR grant (FA−20-1-0306; Dr. B.-L. Lee, Program Manager, K.Y. and M.L.D.).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
H.J. contributed to 3D printing, visualization, experimental investigations, formal data analysis, and writing the original manuscript draft. C.C., A.X.G., J.B., Y.D., and X.K. contributed to experimental investigations, formal data analysis, and validation. M.L.D. contributed to the conceptualization, funding acquisition, validation, and revising and editing of the manuscript. K.Y. contributed to conceptualization, funding acquisition, supervision, data validation, project administration, and revising and editing the manuscript. All authors contributed to reviewing the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Peer review
Peer review information
Nature Communications thanks Chun-Yen Liu, Soo-Young Park, and the other anonymous reviewer for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Source data
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Jiang, H., Chung, C., Gracego, A.X. et al. 4D printing through vat photopolymerization of two-stage UV-curable liquid crystal elastomers. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68370-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68370-y
