Light-Powered Self-Sustained Oscillators of Graphene Oxide/Liquid Crystalline Network Composites Showing Amplitude and Frequency Superposition

Light-activated self-oscillators have drawn enormous attention for their potential applications in mobile machines, energy harvesting, signal modulation, etc. Herein, we report one graphene oxide (GO)/liquid crystalline network (LCN) actuator that presents a unique light-activated oscillation with amplitude and frequency superposition. The GO/LCN composite film is prepared by the one-step polymerization of LC monomers, which favors a splay orientation in LC cells made by gluing together two glass sheets, one coated with photothermal agent GO and the other coated with a rubbed polyimide alignment layer. Owing to the asymmetric contraction/expansion, changing the cutting direction gives rise to notably different actuation behaviors for GO/LCN composite films. Moreover, it twists a little during the deflection process as a result of experimental error during the cutting process, which may cause the strip to be cut inaccurately. When the composite film is embedded in a self-shadowing system, it produces an unconventional hybrid oscillation mode upon near-infrared light irradiation, i.e., bending and twisting oscillation coupled. Furthermore, when the aspect ratio of the film decreases, the twisting mode is suppressed and the actuator changes from a coupled mode to a single bending mode. The proposed strategy may extend the application of GO/LCN composite materials and enrich light-activated self-oscillating behaviors.

Automated summary

This study reports a graphene oxide/liquid crystalline network actuator that exhibits unique oscillation behavior when activated by light. The actuator demonstrates amplitude and frequency superposition, and shows different behaviors depending on the cutting direction.