Publications
Photo-mechanical patterning with light activated polymers
Light activated polymers, which are capable of mechanically responding to light, promise to offer exciting, innovative, and unique material capabilities. Such materials include: photo-radical mediated cleavage and reformation of the polymer backbone in cross-linked elastomers that results in local stress relaxation; photo-switching cross-links in shape memory polymers; and photo-isomerization of azobenzene groups contained in liquid crystal elastomers. In this paper, using our recent material model that couples multiphysical processes involved in light-activated polymers, we demonstrate that a variety of patterns can be created on light activated polymer thin films when coupling mechanical deformation with light irradiation. Here, the polymer thin film is first stretched uniaxially or biaxially. Light is then irradiated on the surface of the thin film. After light irradiation, removal external load partially recovers the initial stretching of the polymer thin film and induces patterns. The variation of the geometry of the patterns can be controlled by a variety of parameters such as initial stretching, light intensity, etc. Photo-patterning with light activated polymer therefore offers a novel way to create surface patterns.