Humidity-responsive bilayer actuators based on a liquid-crystalline polymer network

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2013 Jun 12;5(11):4945-50. doi: 10.1021/am400681z. Epub 2013 May 15.

Abstract

A humidity-responsive bilayer actuator has been developed that consists of an oriented polyamide-6 substrate and a liquid-crystalline polymer coating. The oriented substrate acts as an alignment layer for the liquid crystal. The liquid-crystalline polymer consists of a supramolecular network having hydrogen-bonded entities that, after activation with an alkaline solution, exhibit deformation in response to a change in humidity. The bending behavior of the bilayer actuator was analyzed, showing a large response to a change in the humidity.