We have fabricated patterned fibers using a small-molecular-weight
liquid crystal (LC) and reactive mesogens (RMs) under controlled electric
fields in which defect arrays are generated depending on the electrode
configuration. For this, the AC electric field with interdigitated
electrodes is used to develop versatile defect structures of the LC
phase. Hydrophobic LC network (LCN) fibers exhibiting porous morphologies
have been made by removing the LC part after the polymerization of
RM. The resulting LCN fibers show a surface tension reduction characteristic
compared to the neat RM film and a sticky characteristic with the
water droplet, suggesting a facile way to fabricate the hydrophobic
surface that can be used in microdroplet transport.
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