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. 2019 Oct 7;116(43):21438–21444. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1911021116

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

LM–LCE composites and related functional demonstrations. Illustrations of the molecular (A), microscale (B), and mesoscale (C) ordering of LM–LCE composites. (D) Micrographs of unstrained (Top) and strained (Bottom) composites. (Scale bars, 1 mm.) (E) Photographs highlighting the compliance and deformability of an unstretched (Top) and stretched (Middle) electrically conductive 50 vol % LM–LCE powering an LED. Circuit traces form through mechanical damage (Bottom). (Scale bar, 1 cm.) (F) Photographs of a 50 vol % LM–LCE composite lifting a 100-g weight (∼45 kPa). (Scale bar, 3 cm.) (G) Photographs of zero-stress shape change enabled by photoinitiated shape programming. (Scale bar, 1 cm.) (H) Photographs of a multifunctional architecture. LM–LCE composites function as a conductive wire to run current through an LED, as a transducer to sense touch, and as a Joule-heated actuator to lift a weight. An LED turns on when the sensing composite responds to touch, and internal Joule-heated actuation is activated. An example of the process is shown in Movie S1. (Scale bar, 1 cm.)