In this paper we demonstrate the preparation of monodisperse particles from a liquid crystalline elastomer with a preferred director orientation. For this we use a microfluidic setup to create droplets from a liquid crystalline monomer which are polymerized in the liquid crystalline phase while flowing. When the obtained particles are heated above the transition temperature of the nematic phase, they show a reversible shape change from spherical to cigar-like. We show, that we can control the size as well as the polydispersity of these microactuators. If the particles are prepared in non-flowing conditions, no or an undefined shape change is observed. Particles polymerized in the isotropic phase show no shape deformation as well. Additionally we provide an experimental proof for the stability of these structures versus acidic and basic conditions.

Date Published: 12 February 2010
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 7618, Emerging Liquid Crystal Technologies V, 76180S (12 February 2010); doi: 10.1117/12.848470

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7618:
Emerging Liquid Crystal Technologies V
Liang-Chy Chien, Editor(s)