Liquid crystalline elastomers
Liquid crystalline elastomers are a class of materials that mechanically behave like elastomers , but have a liquid crystalline structure. They are of particular technical interest because some of their representatives have special optical or ferroelectric properties.
When an electric field is applied, the molecules change both in shape and in length. Due to these properties and their high long-term stability, these materials are used as actuators , as components of artificial muscles and as piezoelectric elements.
There are also applications for flat screens .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Miguel Camacho-Lopez, Heino Finkelmann, Peter Palffy-Muhoray, Michael Shelley: Fast liquid-crystal elastomer swims into the dark , Nature Materials 3 ( 2004 ) 307-310.