Department of Chemical Engineering, Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2013 Feb 25;34(4):330-4. doi: 10.1002/marc.201200667. Epub 2012 Dec 20.
A new approach is developed to fabricate highly oriented mono-domain LCE nano/microstructures through micro-molding in capillaries. Gratings and microwires as two typical examples are fabricated and characterized by polarizing optical microscopy, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The gratings with precisely controlled sizes and smooth surface are obtained by filling the channels with a nematic monomer mixture followed by the photo-crosslinking. After peeling off the gratings from the substrate, the free-standing microwires are obtained. A uniform orientation of the mesogenic units is observed for the molds with channel width less than 20 μm. Reversible thermomechanical effect is demonstrated by using the microwires obtained through this approach.
通过毛细管微成型，开发出一种制备高度取向单畴 LCE 纳米/微结构的新方法。通过偏光显微镜、光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜对作为两种典型示例的光栅和微丝进行了制备和表征。通过用向列相单体混合物填充通道并随后进行光交联，可以获得具有精确控制的尺寸和光滑表面的光栅。从基底上剥离光栅后，即可获得独立的微丝。对于通道宽度小于 20μm 的模具，观察到介晶单元的均匀取向。通过使用通过这种方法获得的微丝，证明了其具有可逆的热机械效应。
