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Mechanochromic cholesteric liquid crystal devices for mechanical strain detection

2026-01-27Artigo científico Acesso aberto
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dc.contributor.authorSousa, Francisco
dc.contributor.authorSantos, João
dc.contributor.authorMalta, José F.
dc.contributor.authorCanejo, João P.
dc.contributor.authorAlmeida, Ana P. C.
dc.contributor.authorAlmeida, Pedro L.
dc.contributor.institutionCENIMAT-i3N - Centro de Investigação de Materiais (Lab. Associado I3N)
dc.contributor.institutionDCM - Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais
dc.contributor.institutionLAQV@REQUIMTE
dc.contributor.institutionDQ - Departamento de Química
dc.contributor.pblNature Publishing Group
dc.date.accessioned2026-09-02T23:08:35Z
dc.date.available2026-09-02T23:08:35Z
dc.date.issued2026-01-27
dc.descriptionPublisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2026.
dc.description.abstractThe properties of functional soft materials have opened the doors for the development of a wide range of stimuli-responsive smart devices. The ability to react to factors such as humidity, temperature or pressure, inducing changes in the materials’ properties, for instance, colour, constitutes the basis of smart sensing. For such applications, liquid crystals (LCs) present a particularly compelling and innovative class of materials that have been extensively studied. Amongst LCs, cholesteric LCs (CLCs) have been gaining much attention for different applications, owing to their selective and tuneable reflection of circularly polarised light. This work was focused on the application of CLC-based smart sensing devices for mechanical strain detection through the production of mechanical stress-sensitive devices. These sensors may be used, for instance, as standalone sensors to evaluate a crack propagation in concrete structures, having a visual readout. For this effect, CLC elastomer (CLCE)-based mechanochromic devices were produced. PDMS was embedded with 3D CLCE structures, obtained through the crosslinking of an acrylate-terminated CLCE (ACLCE) precursor solution, followed by shaping either by dropwise addition onto a silicon oil bath – with and without agitation – or by moulding. The sensorial capabilities of the devices were tested by subjecting them to mechanical deformation to assess whether this leads to a change in colour. It was concluded that, considering the main goal of achieving mechanochromic behaviour, the ACLCE structures obtained from dropwise addition, under no agitation, exhibited the strongest and most uniform mechanochromism.en
dc.description.versionpublishersversion
dc.description.versionpublished
dc.format.extent9
dc.format.extent1852836
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41598-026-37723-4
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322
dc.identifier.otherPURE: 171076657
dc.identifier.otherPURE UUID: 4dfb1dd1-63b7-458e-b618-ba5faffb9cdf
dc.identifier.otherScopus: 105030170448
dc.identifier.otherPubMed: 41593258
dc.identifier.otherWOS: 001691508000001
dc.identifier.otherPubMedCentral: PMC12905114
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0002-5361-7368/work/225619666
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0003-4984-0759/work/225619943
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10362/206047
dc.identifier.urlhttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105030170448
dc.identifier.urlhttps://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001691508000001
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.subjectCholesteric liquid crystal
dc.subjectElastomer
dc.subjectMechanochromic
dc.subjectPolymer matrix
dc.subjectSmart sensor
dc.subjectStructural colour
dc.subjectGeneral
dc.titleMechanochromic cholesteric liquid crystal devices for mechanical strain detectionen
dc.typejournal article
degois.publication.firstPage1
degois.publication.lastPage9
degois.publication.titleScientific Reports
degois.publication.volume16
dspace.entity.typePublication
rcaap.rightsopenAccess

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