We consider planar liquid crystal elastomers: two-dimensional objects made of anisotropic responsive materials that remain flat when stimulated, however change their planar shape. We derive a closed form, analytical solution based on the implicit linearity featured by this subclass of deformations. Our solution provides the nematic director field on an arbitrary domain starting with two initial director curves. We discuss the different gauge choices for this problem and the inclusion of disclinations in the nematic order. Finally, we propose several applications and useful design principles based on this theoretical framework.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.178101 | DOI Listing |
Sensors (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Civil Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy.
The present study proposes an L-shaped coplanar strip dipole antenna for sensing the presence of adulterants in liquid food samples. The proposed antenna dimensions are optimized using ANSYS HFSS, and a prototype is fabricated and validated. The sensing region is optimized based on the current distribution and measured reflection coefficients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoft Matter
January 2025
Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
We report an experimental study on how topological defects induced by cylindrical air inclusions in the ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal RM734 are influenced by ionic doping, including an ionic surfactant and ionic polymer. Our results show that subtle differences in molecular structure can lead to distinct surface alignments and topological defects. The ionic surfactant induces a planar alignment, with two -1/2 line defects adhering to the cylindrical bubble surface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAngew Chem Int Ed Engl
January 2025
Shandong University, Department of Chemistry, 27 South Shanda Road, 250100, Jinan, CHINA.
Planar chirality found tremendous use in many fields, such as chemistry, optics, and materials science. In particular, planar chiral [2.2]paracyclophanes (PCPs) are a type of structurally interesting and practically useful chiral compounds bearing unique electronic and photophysical properties and thus have been widely used in π-stacking polymers, organic luminescent materials, and as a valuable toolbox for developing chiral ligands or organocatalysts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
College of Computer Science and Technology, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710054, China.
Soft and stretchable strain sensors are crucial for applications in human-machine interfaces, flexible robotics, and electronic skin. Among these, capacitive strain sensors are widely used and studied; however, they face challenges due to material and structural constraints, such as low baseline capacitance and susceptibility to external interference, which result in low signal-to-noise ratios and poor stability. To address these issues, we propose a U-shaped electrode flexible strain sensor based on liquid metal elastomer (LME).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Mater
January 2025
Liquid Crystals and Photonics Group, Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Ghent University, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 126, Ghent, 9052, Belgium.
In liquid crystal (LC) cells, the surface patterning directs the self-assembly of the uniaxial building blocks in the bulk, enabling the design of stimuli-response optical devices with various functionalities. The combination of different anchoring patterns at both substrates can lead to surface induced frustration, preventing a purely planar and defect-free configuration. In cells with crossed assembly of rotating anchoring patterns, elastic deformations allow to obtain a defect-free bulk configuration, but an electrical stimulus can induce disclination lines.
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