Optomechanical conversion by mechanical turbines
Change log
Authors
KneŽević, M
Warner, Mark https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3172-0265
Abstract
Liquid crystal elastomers are rubbers with liquid crystal order. They contract along their nematic director when heated or illuminated. The shape changes are large and occur in a relatively narrow temperature interval, or at low illumination, around the nematic–isotropic transition. We present a conceptual design of a mechanical, turbine-based engine using photo-active liquid crystal elastomers to extract mechanical work from light. Its efficiency is estimated to be 40%.
Description
Keywords
40 Engineering, 51 Physical Sciences, 5104 Condensed Matter Physics
Journal Title
Physical Review Applied
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
2331-7019
2331-7019
2331-7019
Volume Title
2
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Publisher DOI
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/E051251/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/J017639/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/J017639/1)
M. K. thanks the Winton Programme for the Physics of
Sustainability and the Cambridge International Trust for
financial support.