Recently, researchers from Tsinghua University, including Ji Yan, He Enjian, and Liang Huan, published an article in Nature titled "Robust liquid crystal semi-interpenetrating polymer network with superior energy-dissipation performance." The article introduces a liquid crystal semi-interpenetrating polymer network (LC-semi-IPN), composed of a crystalline linear liquid crystal polymer (c-LCP) and a crosslinked liquid crystal network (LCN), which exhibits outstanding mechanical and energy-dissipation properties with potential practical applications.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54233-x

The article specifically highlights the key raw materials provided by CHEMFISH.namely the diacrylate mesogenic monomers RM82 and RM257. RM82 is used to synthesize c-LCP with crystallization capabilities, while RM257 is employed to fabricate the main-chain LCN matrix. The selection of these two monomers is crucial for achieving the superior performance of LC-semi-IPN. Through rational design and fabrication, LC-semi-IPN demonstrates a significant enhancement in mechanical properties and energy-dissipation ability compared to single liquid crystal networks. The article emphasizes the critical role of CHEMFISH products in synthesizing high-performance liquid crystal polymers, which provide essential support for developing new energy-dissipation materials.

Background Knowledge

Liquid crystal networks (LCNs) have garnered significant research interest due to their unique energy-dissipation mechanisms based on the reorientation of mesogenic units. However, integrating high Young’s modulus, good dissipation efficiency, and a broad effective damping temperature range into energy-dissipation LCNs remains a challenge.

Research Methods

The Ji Yan team proposed a strategy to manufacture a robust energy-dissipation liquid crystal semi-interpenetrating polymer network (LC-semi-IPN) composed of crystalline liquid crystal polymers (c-LCP). Through rational design and fabrication, LC-semi-IPN shows a significant improvement in mechanical properties and energy-dissipation ability compared to single liquid crystal networks.

Experimental Results

• Enhanced Mechanical Properties: The crystalline nature of c-LCP enables a substantial increase in the Young’s modulus of LC-semi-IPN, which is approximately 1,800% higher than that of a single network.

• Improved Energy-Dissipation Efficiency: The movement of c-LCP polymer chains and their friction with LCN enhance the energy-dissipation efficiency of LC-semi-IPN by about 200%.

• Broadened Effective Damping Temperature Range: LC-semi-IPN has an effective damping temperature of up to 130°C, the widest among all reported LCNs.

This study provides crucial support for developing new energy-dissipation materials, which have broad application prospects in fields such as vehicles, aerospace, electronic devices, and safety equipment. The excellent properties and potential applications of LC-semi-IPN demonstrate its significant potential in the field of energy dissipation. The two materials (RM82 and RM257) provided by our company played an important role in this research.