(Acta Polymerica Sinica) Synthesis and Mechanical Property Investigation of Epoxy Liquid Crystal Elastomer Material
writer：Lu, H.; Wang, M.; Huang, S.; Chen, X.; Liu, Z.; Yang, H.*
keywords：Liquid Crystal Elastomer
source：期刊
specific source：Acta Polymerica Sinica, 2021, 52(3), 304-311.
Issue time：2021年
Most of the traditional liquid crystal elastomers are based on polyacrylate or polysiloxane systems and
prepared by thermal or photo-initiated free-radical polymerization. However, the free-radical polymerization is
easily inhibited by oxygen, causing high volume shrinkage and large internal stress during the curing process . In
order to address these drawbacks, we design and synthesize a new liquid crystal monomer and a crosslinking agent
bearing epoxy groups. The epoxy liquid crystal elastomer is prepared by in situ cationic polymerization/
crosslinking using iodonium salt as the photo-initiator. Compared with the traditional liquid crystal elastomers, the
volume shrinkage is small during the photo-initiated cationic reaction and the photo-curing process will not be
interfered by oxygen. The liquid crystallinity and mechanical properties of the epoxy liquid crystal elastomer
material are systematically characterized. The results show that epoxy liquid crystal elastomer material prepared
by photo-initiated cationic polymerization possess better mechanical properties than the traditional
polyacrylate/polysiloxane liquid crystal elastomers. The elastic modulus reach 2.53 MPa at the temperature
beyond the LC-to-isotropic phase transition.