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Stabilized director buckling patterns in nematic elastomers and their dynamic optical effects

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Minamikawa, H 
Terentjev, EM 

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title>jats:pPearlescence and iridescence, which are a class of light diffusion effects that exhibit sharp viewing-angle-dependent brightness and colors, are important material properties for notification purposes and lighting devices. Here we report elastomeric materials with self-organized periodic birefringent patterns that exhibit these optical effects, with additional dynamic and reversible tunability. A stack of micron-thick layers, each of which has a nematic director tilted from the layer normal in a different direction, assembles a birefringence-pattern-based anisotropic diffuser in a nematic liquid-crystal elastomer. The periodic pattern is formed after buckling induced by the uniaxial thermal shrinkage, and the associated rotation of an initially uniform director state. The patterns can be stabilized by secondary crosslinking. Upon deformation or increasing the temperature, the light diffusion with viewing-angle-dependent colors reversibly fades owing to the diminishing of optical effects via strain-induced alignment or thermal randomization of birefringence, respectively. Such elastomers with tunable self-organized birefringence patterns can be used for reconfigurable optical elements and strain/temperature detection in the form of films, tapes, rods, and fibers.</jats:p>

Description

Keywords

40 Engineering, 3403 Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry, 4016 Materials Engineering, 34 Chemical Sciences

Journal Title

Communications Materials

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2662-4443
2662-4443

Volume Title

3

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
European Research Council (786659)