Journal
LIQUID CRYSTALS
Volume 48, Issue 3, Pages 405-411Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/02678292.2020.1786177
Keywords
Elastocaloric; liquid crystal elastomers; caloric materials; solid-state cooling
Funding
- European Commission [778072 H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017]
- Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS [J1-9147]
- NAMASTE Centre of Excellence [P1-0099, P1-0125]
- Space-SI Centre of Excellence
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Significant elastocaloric response has been observed in main-chain liquid crystalline elastomers, with potential for enhancing the response by decreasing the density of crosslinkers. This soft material can have a significant role as active cooling/heating elements in the development of new heat-management devices.
Materials exhibiting a large caloric effect could lead to the development of a new generation of heat-management technologies that will have better energy efficiency and be potentially more environmentally friendly. The focus of caloric materials investigations has shifted recently from solid-state materials towards soft materials, such as liquid crystals and liquid crystalline elastomers. It has been shown recently that a large electrocaloric effect exceeding 6 K can be observed in smectic liquid crystals. Here, we report on a significant elastocaloric response observed by direct elastocaloric measurements in main-chain liquid crystal elastomers. It is demonstrated that the character of the nematic to paranematic/isotropic transition can be tuned from the supercritical regime towards the first-order regime, by decreasing the density of crosslinkers. In the latter case, the latent heat additionally enhances the elastocaloric response. Our results indicate that a significant elastocaloric response is present in main-chain liquid crystalline elastomers, driven by stress fields much smaller than in solid elastocaloric materials. Therefore, elastocaloric soft materials can potentially play a significant role as active cooling/heating elements in the development of new heat-management devices. [GRAPHICS] .
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