Abstract

BISPO, Miguel; DONNIO, Bertrand  and  GUILLON, Daniel. Les élastomères cristaux liquides: Comportement élastique. C.Tecn. Mat. [online]. 2007, vol.19, n.3-4, pp.60-67. ISSN 0870-8312.

Liquid Crystal Elastomers (LCE) are materials that present unique elastic properties: not only their elastic behavior changes as a function of the phase and most abruptly near the phase transitions, but also due to the possibility of spontaneous elongation. In this paper we introduce the main properties of the LCE, and we discuss the elasticity of these materials based on the thermodynamical stability of their networks. The possibility of spontaneous elongation is interpreted theoretically according to the formulation proposed by P.-G. de Gennes, by adapting the expressions of Landau, an approach known as the Landau-de Gennes theory.

Keywords : Liquid Crystals; Elastomers; Artificial Muscles.

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