Yang Xuesong, Lan Linfeng, Li Liang, Liu Xiaokong, Naumov Panče, Zhang Hongyu
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, P. R. China.
Smart Materials Lab, New York University Abu Dhabi, PO Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Nat Commun. 2022 Apr 28;13(1):2322. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29959-1.
Elastic organic crystals are the materials foundation of future lightweight flexible electronic, optical and sensing devices, yet precise control over their deformation has not been accomplished. Here, we report a general non-destructive approach to remote bending of organic crystals. Flexible organic crystals are coupled to magnetic nanoparticles to prepare hybrid actuating elements whose shape can be arbitrarily and precisely controlled simply by using magnetic field. The crystals are mechanically and chemically robust, and can be flexed precisely to a predetermined curvature with complete retention of their macroscopic integrity at least several thousand times in contactless mode, in air or in a liquid medium. These crystals are used as optical waveguides whose light output can be precisely and remotely controlled by using a permanent magnet. This approach expands the range of applications of flexible organic crystals beyond the known limitations with other methods for control of their shape, and opens prospects for their direct implementation in flexible devices such as sensors, emitters, and other (opto)electronics.
弹性有机晶体是未来轻质柔性电子、光学和传感设备的材料基础，但尚未实现对其变形的精确控制。在此，我们报道了一种通用的非破坏性方法来对有机晶体进行远程弯曲。将柔性有机晶体与磁性纳米颗粒耦合，制备出混合驱动元件，其形状只需通过磁场就能被任意精确地控制。这些晶体在机械和化学方面都很坚固，并且可以在非接触模式下，在空气或液体介质中精确地弯曲到预定曲率，至少数千次地完全保持其宏观完整性。这些晶体被用作光波导，其光输出可以通过使用永磁体进行精确远程控制。这种方法扩展了柔性有机晶体的应用范围，突破了其他控制其形状方法的已知限制，并为其直接应用于诸如传感器、发射器和其他（光）电子器件等柔性设备开辟了前景。
