Porous Liquid-Crystalline Networks with Hydrogel-Like Actuation and Reconfigurable Function

A porous liquid-crystalline network (LCN), prepared by using a template method, was found to exhibit peculiar actuation functions. The creation of porosity makes the initially hydrophobic LCN behave like a hydrogel, capable of absorbing a large volume of water (up to ten times the sample size of LCN). When the amount of absorbed water is relatively small (about 100% swelling ratio), the porous LCN displays anisotropic swelling in water and, in the same time, the retained uniaxial alignment of mesogens ensures a thermally induced shape change associated with a LC-isotropic phase transition. Combining the characteristic actuation mechanisms of LCN (order-disorder transition of mesogens) and hydrogel (water absorption), such porous LCNs can be explored for versatile stimuli-triggered shape transformations. Moreover, the porosity enables loading/removal/reloading of functional fillers such as ionic liquids, photothermal dyes and fluorophores, which imparts the porous LCN actuator with reconfigurable functions such as ionic conductivity, light-driven locomotion, and emissive color.