For some systems, energy from an external source can trigger changes in the internal state of the structure, leading to a mechanical response much larger than the initial input. The ability to unlock this internal work in a solid-state structure is of key importance for many potential applications. We report a novel phenomenon of photo-induced mechanical actuation observed in a polymer-nanotube composite when exposed to infrared radiation. At small strains the sample tends to expand, when stimulated by photons, by an amount that is orders of magnitude greater than the pristine polymer. Conversely, at larger applied pre-strain, it will contract under identical infrared excitation. The behaviour is modelled as a function of orientational ordering of nanotubes induced by the uniaxial extension. It is thought that no other materials can display this continuously reversible response of so large a magnitude, making rubber nanocomposites important for actuator applications.

We report on rheological properties of a dispersion of multiwalled carbon nanotubes in a viscous polymer matrix. Particular attention is paid to the process of nanotubes mixing and dispersion, which we monitor by the rheological signature of the composite. The response of the composite as a function of the dispersion mixing time and conditions indicates that a critical mixing time t * needs to be exceeded to achieve satisfactory dispersion of aggregates, this time being a function of nanotube concentration and the mixing shear stress. At shorter times of shear mixing t Ͻ t * , we find a number of nonequilibrium features characteristic of colloidal glass and jamming of clusters. A thoroughly dispersed nanocomposite, at t Ͼ t * , has several universal rheological features; at nanotube concentration above a characteristic value n c ϳ 2-3 wt. % the effective elastic gel network is formed, while the low-concentration composite remains a viscous liquid. We use this rheological approach to determine the effects of aging and reaggregation.

New thermoplastic liquid‐crystalline elastomers have been synthesized using the telechelic principle of microphase separation in triblock copolymers. The large central block is made of a main‐chain nematic polymer renowned for its large spontaneous elongation along the nematic director. The effective crosslinking is established by small terminal blocks formed of terphenyl moieties, which phase separate into semicrystalline micelles acting as multifunctional junction points of the network. The resulting transient network retains the director alignment and shows a significant shape‐memory effect, characteristic and exceeding that of covalently bonded nematic elastomers. Its plasticity at temperatures above the nematic–isotropic transition allows drawing thin well‐aligned fibers from the melt. The fibers have been characterized and their thermal actuator behavior—reversible contraction of heating and elongation on cooling—has been investigated.

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Rubber composites containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes have been irradiated with near infrared light to study their reversible photo-mechanical actuation response. We demonstrate that the actuation is reproducible across differing polymer systems. The response is directly related to the degree of uniaxial alignment of the nanotubes in the matrix, contracting the samples along the alignment axis. The actuation stroke depends on the specific polymer being tested, however, the general response is universal for all composites tested. We conduct a detailed study of tube alignment induced by stress and propose a model for the reversible actuation behavior, based on the orientational averaging of the local response. The single phenomenological parameter of this model describes the response of an individual tube to adsorption of low-energy photons; its experimentally determined value may suggest some ideas about such a response.