ALBERTUS P.H.J. SCHENNING^1,2,*, CEES M.W. BASTIAANSEN^1,3, DIRK J. BROER^1,2, MICHAEL G. DEBIJE¹
*Corresponding Author
1. Eindhoven University of Technology, Laboratory of Functional Organic Materials and Devices, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2. Eindhoven University of Technology, Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
3. University of London, Queen Mary, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Mile End Road, E1 4NS, London, United Kingdom

Abstract

In this review, we show the important role of supramolecular chemistry in the fabrication of stimuli responsive and hierarchically structured liquid crystalline polymer networks. Supramolecular interactions can be used to create three dimensional order or as molecular triggers in materials that can be applied as actuators, sensors and nanoporous materials.

INTRODUCTION

Hierarchical supramolecular ordered polymeric structures with a well-defined response to molecular triggers are key ingredients for future functional materials that respond in a precise and amplified fashion to external stimuli (1).
Such stimuli-responsive hierarchical structured materials which undergo structural, property and/or shape changes are regarded as a grand materials challenge (2). For the assembly of such materials, supramolecular chemistry plays a crucial role to create tailored hierarchical order and to achieve the target of multiple property changes.
In the past few decades, the self-assembly of liquid crystals (LCs) has proven to be a useful tool in the development of well-defined hierarchically structured systems (3).
The self-assembly of these materials on the nanometer scale can be manipulated using, for example, alignment layers, resulting in materials with a monolithic structure on macroscopic length scales produced with large scale and low cost processes. The generation of close to defect-free nanostructured materials is comparatively straightforward, in contrast to other self-assembly systems. I ...