Micromachining methods and applications of liquid crystal polymer actuators
Liquid crystal polymers are environment-responsive materials capable of intelligent deformation.Microactuators constructed from these smart materials can directly convert environmental stimuli into mechanical motion without the need for complex energy conversion components or mechanical transmission structures.Consequently,liquid crystal polymer microactuators hold significant potential for applications in fields such as microrobotics,intelligent transport and biomedical devices.There are two primary technical challenges in the micromachining of liquid crystal polymer:the fabrication of micro/nanoscale devices and the alignment of liquid crystals.This paper reviews recent micro/nanofabrication methods for liquid crystal polymers and the potential application areas of the corresponding functional devices,focusing on how to address these two technical challenges.