Figure 12.

Electro-thermal liquid crystalline network (ELCN) actuators. (a) The integrated ELCN actuator; (b) the bending states of the ELCN actuator driven by the external voltage; (c) illustration of an ELCN actuator strip programmed to have a helical LCN shape with either an outside layer or inside layer, and the corresponding reversible actuation when the power is off and on. (d) Photographs of the self-locking gripper made with the ELCN actuator, which can grip and lift an object by operating the programmable hand and arm by using two electric circuits (Reprinted (adapted) with permission [141]. Copyright (2019) John Wiley and Sons).