Liquid Crystal Elastomers


Book Description

This text is a primer for liquid crystals, polymers, rubber and elasticity. It is directed at physicists, chemists, material scientists, engineers and applied mathematicians at the graduate student level and beyond.




Soft Actuators


Book Description

This book is the second edition of Soft Actuators, originally published in 2014, with 12 chapters added to the first edition. The subject of this new edition is current comprehensive research and development of soft actuators, covering interdisciplinary study of materials science, mechanics, electronics, robotics, and bioscience. The book includes contemporary research of actuators based on biomaterials for their potential in future artificial muscle technology. Readers will find detailed and useful information about materials, methods of synthesis, fabrication, and measurements to study soft actuators. Additionally, the topics of materials, modeling, and applications not only promote the further research and development of soft actuators, but bring benefits for utilization and industrialization. This volume makes generous use of color figures, diagrams, and photographs that provide easy-to-understand descriptions of the mechanisms, apparatus, and motions of soft actuators. Also, in this second edition the chapters on modeling, materials design, and device design have been given a wider scope and made easier to comprehend, which will be helpful in practical applications of soft actuators. Readers of this work can acquire the newest technology and information about basic science and practical applications of flexible, lightweight, and noiseless soft actuators, which differ from conventional mechanical engines and electric motors. This new edition of Soft Actuators will inspire readers with fresh ideas and encourage their research and development, thus opening up a new field of applications for the utilization and industrialization of soft actuators.




Optical Nano and Micro Actuator Technology


Book Description

In Optical Nano and Micro Actuator Technology, leading engineers, material scientists, chemists, physicists, laser scientists, and manufacturing specialists offer an in-depth, wide-ranging look at the fundamental and unique characteristics of light-driven optical actuators. They discuss how light can initiate physical movement and control a variety of mechanisms that perform mechanical work at the micro- and nanoscale. The book begins with the scientific background necessary for understanding light-driven systems, discussing the nature of light and the interaction between light and NEMS/MEMS devices. It then covers innovative optical actuator technologies that have been developed for many applications. The book examines photoresponsive materials that enable the design of optically driven structures and mechanisms and describes specific light-driven technologies that permit the manipulation of micro- and nanoscale objects. It also explores applications in optofluidics, bioMEMS and biophotonics, medical device design, and micromachine control. Inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers to advance light-driven technologies, this book gives readers a solid grounding in this emerging interdisciplinary area. It thoroughly explains the scientific language and fundamental principles, provides a holistic view of optical nano and micro actuator systems, and illustrates current and potential applications of light-driven systems.




Liquid Crystal Elastomers: Materials and Applications


Book Description

Preparation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomers, by F. Brömmel, D. Kramer, H. Finkelmann Applications of Liquid Crystalline Elastomers, by C. Ohm, M. Brehmer und R. Zentel Liquid Crystal Elastomers and Light, by Peter Palffy-Muhoray Electro-Opto-Mechanical Effects in Swollen Nematic Elastomers, by Kenji Urayama The Isotropic-to-Nematic Conversion in Liquid Crystalline Elastomers, by Andrija Lebar, George Cordoyiannis, Zdravko Kutnjak und Bostjan Zalar Order and Disorder in Liquid-Crystalline Elastomers, by Wim H. de Jeu und Boris I. Ostrovskii




Recent advances in the design, fabrication, actuation mechanisms and applications of liquid crystal elastomers


Book Description

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), as an intriguing class of soft active materials, exhibit excellent actuation performances and biocompatible properties, as well as a high degree of design flexibility, which have been of increasing interest in many disciplines. This review summarizes recent developments in this inspiring area, providing an overview of fabrication methods, design schemes, actuation mechanisms, and diverse applications of LCEs. Firstly, two-stage and one-pot synthesis methods, as well as emerging fabrication techniques (e.g., 3D/4D printing and top-down microfabrication techniques) are introduced. Secondly, the design and actuation mechanisms are discussed according to the different types of stimuli (e.g., heat, light, and electric/magnetic fields, among others). Thirdly, the representative applications are summarized, including soft robotics, temperature/strain sensors, biomedical devices, stretchable displays, and smart textiles. Finally, outlooks on the scientific challenges and open opportunities are provided.




Bioinspired Sensing, Actuation, and Control in Underwater Soft Robotic Systems


Book Description

This book includes representative research from the state‐of‐the‐art in the emerging field of soft robotics, with a special focus on bioinspired soft robotics for underwater applications. Topics include novel materials, sensors, actuators, and system design for distributed estimation and control of soft robotic appendages inspired by the octopus and seastar. It summarizes the latest findings in an emerging field of bioinspired soft robotics for the underwater domain, primarily drawing from (but not limited to) an ongoing research program in bioinspired autonomous systems sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The program has stimulated cross‐disciplinary research in biology, material science, computational mechanics, and systems and control for the purpose of creating novel robotic appendages for maritime applications. The book collects recent results in this area.




Handbook of Flexible and Stretchable Electronics


Book Description

Flexibility and stretchability of electronics are crucial for next generation electronic devices that involve skin contact sensing and therapeutic actuation. This handbook provides a complete entrée to the field, from solid-state physics to materials chemistry, processing, devices, performance, and reliability testing, and integrated systems development. This work shows how microelectronics, signal processing, and wireless communications in the same circuitry are impacting electronics, healthcare, and energy applications. Key Features: • Covers the fundamentals to device applications, including solid-state and mechanics, chemistry, materials science, characterization techniques, and fabrication; • Offers a comprehensive base of knowledge for moving forward in this field, from foundational research to technology development; • Focuses on processing, characterization, and circuits and systems integration for device applications; • Addresses the basic physical properties and mechanics, as well as the nuts and bolts of reliability and performance analysis; • Discusses various technology applications, from printed electronics to logic and memory devices, sensors, actuators, displays, and energy storage and harvesting. This handbook will serve as the one-stop knowledge base for readership who are interested in flexible and stretchable electronics.




Liquid Crystals


Book Description

The confluence of the fields of liquid crystals and biomedical engineering is resulting in remarkable interdisciplinary research. This book focuses on the potential for inherently translational research in one field of engineering to radically alter the scope of another. The text reviews the exciting advances being made in displays, spectroscopy, sensors and diagnostics, biomimicking, actuators and lasers with regards to liquid crystalline materials, and biomedicine. The liquid crystal field ? which has delivered revolutionary devices in the display, optics, and telecommunications industries ? is now poised to make significant inroads into biology, medicine, and biomedical engineering.




Liquid Crystal Polymer Nanocomposites


Book Description

Liquid Crystal Polymer Nanocomposites summarizes, in a comprehensive manner, numerous modern technical research accomplishments on the development of nanocomposites from liquid crystalline polymers. It emphasizes various studies at the nano-scale, including discussions of liquid crystalline block copolymers, liquid crystalline epoxy nanocomposites, barrier property studies of liquid crystalline epoxy and their nanocomposites, liquid crystalline polymer-based microfibrillar and nanofibrillar composites, liquid crystalline polymer/nanoplatelet nanocomposites, liquid-crystalline elastomer/graphene oxide nanocomposites, and thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers. It provides detailed information on methods of preparation, the properties of these materials and a discussion on the structure-properties relationship. With an emphasis on data and experimental results, the book's authors illustrate how the liquid crystal structure can have an impact on the final properties of nanocomposite. Contains contributions from leading experts working in this specialized field of research Provides detailed information on the preparation, characterization and application of nanocomposites of liquid crystalline polymers Presents solutions to both fundamental and applied problems




Handbook of Optoelectronics


Book Description

Handbook of Optoelectronics offers a self-contained reference from the basic science and light sources to devices and modern applications across the entire spectrum of disciplines utilizing optoelectronic technologies. This second edition gives a complete update of the original work with a focus on systems and applications. Volume I covers the details of optoelectronic devices and techniques including semiconductor lasers, optical detectors and receivers, optical fiber devices, modulators, amplifiers, integrated optics, LEDs, and engineered optical materials with brand new chapters on silicon photonics, nanophotonics, and graphene optoelectronics. Volume II addresses the underlying system technologies enabling state-of-the-art communications, imaging, displays, sensing, data processing, energy conversion, and actuation. Volume III is brand new to this edition, focusing on applications in infrastructure, transport, security, surveillance, environmental monitoring, military, industrial, oil and gas, energy generation and distribution, medicine, and free space. No other resource in the field comes close to its breadth and depth, with contributions from leading industrial and academic institutions around the world. Whether used as a reference, research tool, or broad-based introduction to the field, the Handbook offers everything you need to get started. (The previous edition of this title was published as Handbook of Optoelectronics, 9780750306461.) John P. Dakin, PhD, is professor (emeritus) at the Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, UK. Robert G. W. Brown, PhD, is chief executive officer of the American Institute of Physics and an adjunct full professor in the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic at the University of California, Irvine.