The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Liquid crystalline networks (LCNs) with various topological defects have attracted significant attention due to their ability to undergo systematic and programmable locomotion based on designed molecular alignments. However, most of the previous demonstrations of locomotion under continuous light irradiation exhibited only unimodal behavior. In addition, locomotion in fluid environments was limited to simple movements, serving primarily as a demonstration rather than functional actuation. In this study, we introduce spiral aligned LCNs capable of continuous locomotion under continuous light irradiation. An automated rotational rubbing system was employed to efficiently fabricate spiral alignment. The LCN films were subsequently patterned into circular and double-arc geometries to enable continuous rotation and flip-wave locomotion under continuous light irradiation. We systematically investigated the locomotion behavior by varying key parameters that influence actuation performance. Furthermore, the photo-responsive LCN swimmers demonstrated effective motion in fluid environments, highlighting their potential for soft robotic applications in fluid or terrestrial environments.