Preparation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomers, by F. Brömmel, D. Kramer, H. Finkelmann Applications of Liquid Crystalline Elastomers, by C. Ohm, M. Brehmer und R. Zentel Liquid Crystal Elastomers and Light, by Peter Palffy-Muhoray Electro-Opto-Mechanical Effects in Swollen Nematic Elastomers, by Kenji Urayama The Isotropic-to-Nematic Conversion in Liquid Crystalline Elastomers, by Andrija Lebar, George Cordoyiannis, Zdravko Kutnjak und Bostjan Zalar Order and Disorder in Liquid-Crystalline Elastomers, by Wim H. de Jeu und Boris I. Ostrovskii
This text is a primer for liquid crystals, polymers, rubber and elasticity. It is directed at physicists, chemists, material scientists, engineers and applied mathematicians at the graduate student level and beyond.
Liquid crystal displays were discovered in the 1960s, and today we continue to enjoy the benefits of that fundamental discovery and its translation into a wide variety of products. Like liquid crystals, polymers are unusual materials, and have similarly enjoyed a great deal of research attention because of their vast applications and uses and compl
The work focuses on recent developments of the rapidly evolving field of Non-conventional Liquid Crystals. After a concise introduction it discusses the most promising research such as biosensing, elastomers, polymer films , photoresponsive properties and energy harvesting. Besides future applications it discusses as well potential frontiers in LC science and technology.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of various self-assemblies in liquid crystalline polymers and their electrical, optical, mechanical, and flame retardant properties. Liquid crystalline polymers are unique self-assembled, functional soft materials with electrical, magnetic, and thermal responses which find potential applications in numerous areas. As well as providing an overview of their synthesis, self-assembly and dynamics the various applications are also discussed. Such applications as liquid crystalline elastomers, light responsive actuators, optical reflectors, gas barrier films, and even flame retardant polymers will be presented. The book is a useful resource for undergraduates, postgraduates and experienced researchers.
This book reviews the cutting-edge significant research in the field of smart light-responsive materials based on azobenzene polymers and liquid crystals. Emphasis is placed on the discovery of new phenomena from the past 5 years, their underlying mechanisms, new functionalities, and properties achieved through rational design. Edited by leading authorities in the field, Zhao and Ikeda, the chapters are authored by an internationally-recognized team of experts from North America, Europe, and Asia. Smart Light-Responsive Materials will serve to catalyze new research that will lead this field over the next 5-10 years.
Offers a comprehensive review of the research and development of mechanically responsive materials and their applications in soft robots Mechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics offers an authoritative guide to the current state of mechanically responsive materials for the development of soft robotics. With contributions from an international panel of experts, the book examines existing mechanically responsive materials such as crystals, polymers, gels, and composites that are stimulated by light and heat. The book also explores the application of mechanical materials to soft robotics. The authors describe the many excellent mechanical crystals developed in recent years that show the ability to bend, twist, rotate, jump, self-heal, and shape memory. Mechanical polymer materials are described for evolution into artificial muscles, photomobile materials, bioinspired soft actuators, inorganic-organic hybrid materials, multi-responsive composite materials, and strain sensor materials. The application of mechanical materials to soft robots is just the beginning. This book reviews the many challenging and versatile applications, such as soft microrobots made from photoresponsive elastomers, four-dimensional printing for assembling soft robots, self-growing of soft robots like plants, and biohybrid robots using muscle tissue. This important book: -Explores recent developments in the use of soft smart materials in robotic systems -Covers the full scope of mechanically responsive materials: polymers, crystals, gels, and nanocomposites -Deals with an interdisciplinary topic of advanced smart materials research -Contains extensive descriptions of current and future applications in soft robotics Written for materials scientists, polymer chemists, photochemists, physical chemists, solid state chemists, inorganic chemists, and robotics engineers, Mechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics offers a comprehensive and timely review of the most recent research on mechanically responsive materials and the manufacture of soft robotics.
This book is the second edition of Soft Actuators, originally published in 2014, with 12 chapters added to the first edition. The subject of this new edition is current comprehensive research and development of soft actuators, covering interdisciplinary study of materials science, mechanics, electronics, robotics, and bioscience. The book includes contemporary research of actuators based on biomaterials for their potential in future artificial muscle technology. Readers will find detailed and useful information about materials, methods of synthesis, fabrication, and measurements to study soft actuators. Additionally, the topics of materials, modeling, and applications not only promote the further research and development of soft actuators, but bring benefits for utilization and industrialization. This volume makes generous use of color figures, diagrams, and photographs that provide easy-to-understand descriptions of the mechanisms, apparatus, and motions of soft actuators. Also, in this second edition the chapters on modeling, materials design, and device design have been given a wider scope and made easier to comprehend, which will be helpful in practical applications of soft actuators. Readers of this work can acquire the newest technology and information about basic science and practical applications of flexible, lightweight, and noiseless soft actuators, which differ from conventional mechanical engines and electric motors. This new edition of Soft Actuators will inspire readers with fresh ideas and encourage their research and development, thus opening up a new field of applications for the utilization and industrialization of soft actuators.
Presents a fully interdisciplinary approach with a stronger emphasis on polymers and composites than traditional materials books Materials science and engineering is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering. Polymer materials are often mixed with inorganic materials to enhance their mechanical, electrical, thermal, and physical properties. Materials: Introduction and Applications addresses a gap in the existing textbooks on materials science. This book focuses on three Units. The first, Foundations, includes basic materials topics from Intermolecular Forces and Thermodynamics and Phase Diagrams to Crystalline and Non-Crystalline Structures. The second Units, Materials, goes into the details of many materials including Metals, Ceramics, Organic Raw Materials, Polymers, Composites, Biomaterials, and Liquid Crystals and Smart Materials. The third and final unit details Behavior and Properties including Rheological, Mechanical, Thermophysical, Color and Optical, Electrical and Dielectric, Magnetic, Surface Behavior and Tribology, Materials, Environment and Sustainability, and Testing of Materials. Materials: Introduction and Applications features: Basic and advanced Materials concepts Interdisciplinary information that is otherwise scattered consolidated into one work Links to everyday life application like electronics, airplanes, and dental materials Certain topics to be discussed in this textbook are more advanced. These will be presented in shaded gray boxes providing a two-level approach. Depending on whether you are a student of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Technology, MSE, Chemistry, Physics, etc., you can decide for yourself whether a topic presented on a more advanced level is not important for you—or else essential for you given your professional profile Witold Brostow is Regents Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas. He is President of the International Council on Materials Education and President of the Scientific Committee of the POLYCHAR World Forum on Advanced Material (42 member countries). He has three honorary doctorates and is a Member of the European Academy of Sciences, Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Mexico, Foreign Member of the National Academy of Engineering of Georgia in Tbilisi and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in London. His publications have been cited more than 7200 times. Haley Hagg Lobland is the Associate Director of LAPOM at the University of North Texas. She is a Member of the POLYCHAR Scientific Committeee. She has received awards for her research presented at conferences in: Buzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; NIST, Frederick, Maryland; Rouen, France; and Lviv, Ukraine. She has lectured in a number of countries including Poland and Spain. Her publications include joint ones with colleagues in Egypt, Georgia, Germany, India, Israel, Mexico, Poland, Turkey and United Kingdom.
