Browsing by Author "Ambulo, Cedric P."
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Engineering Liquid Crystalline Polymers for Biological Applications(Society for Biomaterials, 2019-04) Boothby, Jennifer M.; Ambulo, Cedric P.; Saed, M.; Ware, Taylor H.; Boothby, Jennifer M.; Ambulo, Cedric P.; Ware, Taylor H.Statement of Purpose: Large, bulky, power-hungry traditional mechanical actuators are poorly suited for small, biological applications such as medical devices. Shape changing polymers are an emerging class of actuators which can utilize environmental conditions to undergo large, complex shape changes. Liquid crystalline self-assembly is one promising strategy to program structural orientation and resulting actuation in polymeric materials. This molecular ordering can be spatially patterned, resulting in monolithic materials that undergo complex shape change. However, liquid crystal polymer networks are typically hydrophobic and only respond to stimuli that would be incompatible with biological environments, such as high temperatures and organic solvents. We have used two strategies to overcome these limitations: 1) engineering liquid crystal elastomers chemistry to respond near body temperature and 2) building gels from water-soluble, chromonic liquid crystals to respond to aqueous stimuli.Item Molecularly-Engineered, 4D-Printed Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuators(WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, 2018-11-27) Saed, Mohand O.; Ambulo, Cedric P.; Kim, Hyun; De, Rohit; Raval, Vyom; Searles, Kyle; Siddiqui, Danyal A.; Cue, John Michael O.; Stefan, Mihaela C.; Shankar, M. Ravi; Ware, Taylor H.; 0000-0001-5154-6378 (Saed MO); 0000-0001-7996-7393 (Ware, TH); Saed, Mohand O.; Ambulo, Cedric P.; Kim, Hyun; De, Rohit; Raval, Vyom; Searles, Kyle; Siddiqui, Danyal A.; Cue, John Michael O.; Stefan, Mihaela C.; Ware, Taylor H.Three-dimensional structures that undergo reversible shape changes in response to mild stimuli enable a wide range of smart devices, such as soft robots or implantable medical devices. Herein, a dual thiol-ene reaction scheme is used to synthesize a class of liquid crystal (LC) elastomers that can be 3D printed into complex shapes and subsequently undergo controlled shape change. Through controlling the phase transition temperature of polymerizable LC inks, morphing 3D structures with tunable actuation temperature (28 ± 2 to 105 ± 1 °C) are fabricated. Finally, multiple LC inks are 3D printed into single structures to allow for the production of untethered, thermo-responsive structures that sequentially and reversibly undergo multiple shape changes.