A Molecular Rheology Dynamics Study on 3D Printing of Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Senay Ustunel; Harsh Pandya; Marianne E Prévôt; Gisele Pegorin; Faeze Shiralipour; Rajib Paul; Robert J Clements; Fardin Khabaz; Elda Hegmann

doi:10.1002/marc.202300717

A Molecular Rheology Dynamics Study on 3D Printing of Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Macromol Rapid Commun. 2024 Mar 6:e2300717. doi: 10.1002/marc.202300717. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Senay Ustunel^{1

2

3}, Harsh Pandya⁴, Marianne E Prévôt^{2

5}, Gisele Pegorin^{1

2}, Faeze Shiralipour^{1

2

3}, Rajib Paul², Robert J Clements^{2

6

7}, Fardin Khabaz^{4

8}, Elda Hegmann^{1

2

3

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Materials Science Graduate Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44240, USA.
² Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44240, USA.
³ Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44240, USA.
⁴ School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH, 44325, USA.
⁵ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44240, USA.
⁶ Biomedical Sciences Program, Kent State University, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44240, USA.
⁷ Brain Health Research Institute, Kent State University, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44240, USA.
⁸ Department of Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH, 44325, USA.

PMID: 38445752
DOI: 10.1002/marc.202300717

Abstract

This work presents a rheological study of a biocompatible and biodegradable liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) ink for three dimensional (3D) printing. These materials have shown that their structural variations have an effect on morphology, mechanical properties, alignment, and their impact on cell response. Within the last decade LCEs are extensively studied as potential printing materials for soft robotics applications, due to the actuation properties that are produced when liquid crystal (LC) moieties are induced through external stimuli. This report utilizes experiments and coarse-grained molecular dynamics to study the macroscopic rheology of LCEs in nonlinear shear flow. Results from the shear flow simulations are in line with the outcomes of these experimental investigations. This work believes the insights from these results can be used to design and print new material with desirable properties necessary for targeted applications.

Keywords: 3D scaffolds; liquid crystal elastomers; modeling; molecular dynamics.

Abstract

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