Liquid Crystal Elastomer-Liquid Metal Composite: Ultrafast, Untethered, and Programmable Actuation by Induction Heating.

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are a class of stimuli-responsive materials that have been intensively studied for applications including artificial muscles, shape morphing structures, and soft robotics due to their capability of large, programmable, and fully reversible actuation strains. To fully take advantage of LCEs, rapid, untethered, and programmable actuation methods are highly desirable. Here, a liquid crystal elastomer-liquid metal (LCE-LM) composite is reported, which enables ultrafast and programmable actuations by eddy current induction heating.