Coupling of Photoinduced Mass Immigration with Polymer Networks to Produce Nanostructured Materials Capable of Reversibly Creating Arbitrary Deformations

Photoresponsive materials have tremendous potential applications in many fields. However, it is still a challenge to realize such materials, especially in isolated micro- or nanostructured form, with precisely controlled photomechanics for creating arbitrary deformations in a reversible way. Based on the coupling of photoinduced mass immigration with polymer networks, a general concept is proposed for producing nanostructured materials capable of reversibly creating arbitrary deformations. It is found for these type of materials the molecule alignment in the formation of a polymer network is not necessary to generate large anisotropic strain and stress. Importantly, the photoinduced mass immigration in a polymer network can provide unprecedented freedom in rapid exceptional spatiotemporal control over the molecule alignment profile and thus mechanical response within the network, enabling polymer formation of arbitrary deformations. Moreover, the inscribed molecule alignment profile is erasable and the fabricated materials can serve as a reconfigurable platform to present different mechanical behaviors.