Crosslinking-free preparation of thermoplastic triblock liquid crystal elastomer actuators

Key Points

• The aim is to develop a novel class of thermoplastic liquid crystal elastomers that do not require crosslinkers for actuator applications.
• Utilized a thermoplastic SBS-based liquid crystal elastomer design.
• Employed microphase separation to form PS nanodomains as physical crosslinks.
• Fabricated monodomain actuators without adding covalent or non-covalent crosslinkers.
• Achieved functional monodomain actuators with unique properties.
• Demonstrated the effectiveness of self-locking physical crosslinks in actuator performance.
• Showcased improvements in ease of fabrication and potential for applications.