Xu Jiaojiao, Zhao Nan, Qin Ban, Qu Minghan, Wang Xiuxiu, Ridi Buyinga, Li Chensha, Gao Yachen
Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, P.R China.
Key Laboratory of Electronics Engineering, College of Heilongjiang Province, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, P. R China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Sep 22;13(37):44833-44843. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c08464. Epub 2021 Sep 9.
Photoactuated liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) materials are gaining much attention in many application fields, but challenges for the precise modulation of their photoresponses still exist. Researchers have explored various optical parameters, such as polarization, intensity, and wavelength, to obtain differential responses. The development of photoactuated LCE materials with wavelength-selective responsiveness is more versatile and has attracted more interest, but such LCE materials are commonly prepared by incorporating different molecular chromophores or dyes into the LCE matrices. When the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) characteristic of nanometals, which can generate strong photothermal conversion, and the difference of SPR absorption wavelength bands of different nanometals are considered, a strategy of constructing wavelength-selective actuation of LCE materials by using the SPR photothermal effect can be demonstrated, as done herein. The LCE nanocomposites doped by nanogold or nanosilver were fabricated and exhibited good SPR absorption but in different wavelength bands of the visible spectrum range. They had strong actuation under light irradiation with the wavelengths being inside their respective absorption band but could not be effectively actuated by the light beyond their respective absorption band. A smart electronic device, implementing a hierarchical structured LCE nanocomposite doped by nanogold and nanosilver in different domains as the two-switch actuator, was prepared and capable of outputting different signals in response to the different wavelength bands filtered from a light source, which released the actuator from the restriction of light scanning direction or position. Our work provides new insights for the convenient and precise photoactuation of the LCE actuators.
光驱动液晶弹性体（LCE）材料在许多应用领域正备受关注，但对其光响应进行精确调制仍存在挑战。研究人员探索了各种光学参数，如偏振、强度和波长，以获得不同的响应。具有波长选择性响应的光驱动LCE材料的发展更具通用性且吸引了更多关注，但此类LCE材料通常是通过将不同的分子发色团或染料掺入LCE基质中来制备的。当考虑到纳米金属的表面等离子体共振（SPR）特性（可产生强烈的光热转换）以及不同纳米金属的SPR吸收波段差异时，如本文所述，可以证明一种利用SPR光热效应构建LCE材料波长选择性驱动的策略。制备了由纳米金或纳米银掺杂的LCE纳米复合材料，它们在可见光谱范围内的不同波段表现出良好的SPR吸收。在各自吸收带内的波长光照下，它们具有强烈的驱动能力，但在各自吸收带以外的光照射下则无法有效驱动。制备了一种智能电子设备，该设备在不同区域采用由纳米金和纳米银掺杂的分层结构LCE纳米复合材料作为双开关致动器，能够响应从光源过滤的不同波段波长输出不同信号，从而使致动器摆脱了光扫描方向或位置的限制。我们的工作为LCE致动器的便捷精确光驱动提供了新的见解。
