Alignment and actuation of liquid crystals via 3D confinement and two-photon laser printing.

ABSTRACT: Liquid crystalline (LC) materials are especially suited for the preparation of active three-dimensional (3D) and 4D microstructures using two-photon laser printing. To achieve the desired actuation, the alignment of the LCs has to be controlled during the printing process. In most cases studied before, the alignment relied on surface modifications and complex alignment patterns and concomitant actuation were not possible. Here, we introduce a strategy for spatially aligning LC domains in three-dimensional space by using 3D-printed polydimethylsiloxane-based microscaffolds as confinement barriers, which induce the desired director field. The director field resulting from the boundary conditions is calculated with Landau de Gennes theory and validated by comparing experimentally measured and

SUBMITTER: Hsu LY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11378907 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature