We report a method to fabricate polymer microstructures with local control over the molecular orientation. Alignment control is achieved on molecular level in a structure of arbitrary form that can be from 1 to 100 mu m in size, by fixing the local boundary conditions with micro-grating patterns. The method makes use of two-photon polymerization (Direct Laser Writing) and is demonstrated specifically in liquid-crystalline elastomers. This concept allows for the realization of free-form polymeric structures with multiple functionalities which are not possible to realize with existing techniques and which can be locally controlled by light in the micrometer scale. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.
Alignment engineering in liquid crystalline elastomers: Free-form microstructures with multiple functionalities
Parmeggiani Camilla;
2015
Abstract
We report a method to fabricate polymer microstructures with local control over the molecular orientation. Alignment control is achieved on molecular level in a structure of arbitrary form that can be from 1 to 100 mu m in size, by fixing the local boundary conditions with micro-grating patterns. The method makes use of two-photon polymerization (Direct Laser Writing) and is demonstrated specifically in liquid-crystalline elastomers. This concept allows for the realization of free-form polymeric structures with multiple functionalities which are not possible to realize with existing techniques and which can be locally controlled by light in the micrometer scale. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
