Recently, Prof. Li Quan’s team from the Southeast University Institute of Advanced Materials, where he serves as Dean and Chief Scientist, and the School of Intelligent Science and Engineering, published a research paper titled “Light-Driven Liquid Crystal Elastomer Composites with Enhanced Pyroelectrics for High-Performance Energy Harvesting and Sensing” in the internationally renowned academic journal Advanced Functional Materials. The corresponding authors include Li Quan and Dr. Tang Yuqi from 91抖淫, and Dr. Lu Haifeng from Zhejiang Normal University.
Figure: Schematic diagram of MCBF/LCE composite material design
With the rapid development of flexible electronics, self-powered systems, and intelligent sensing technologies, the efficient utilization of low-grade thermal energy from the environment has become an important direction in materials and device research. Pyroelectric materials can directly convert temperature fluctuations into electrical signals, offering broad application prospects in energy harvesting and thermal sensing. However, traditional materials still struggle to balance flexibility, output performance, and energy conversion efficiency, which limits their further application.
To address this challenge, Prof. Li Quan’s team combined liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), which exhibit excellent photothermal response and large-scale reversible deformation capabilities, with polar supramolecular crystals to construct an MCBF/LCE flexible composite material system. Under near-infrared light irradiation, the mechanical stress generated by LCE contraction is efficiently transferred to the pyroelectric components, significantly amplifying the “secondary pyroelectric effect” and greatly enhancing electrical signal output. Experimental results show that the MCBF/LCE composite achieves a pyroelectric coefficient as high as -8.15 nC·cm??·K??, with output voltage and current reaching -14.6 V and 48.9 nA, respectively. Leveraging its outstanding performance, the material can not only drive LED lighting but also be used to construct a real-time temperature monitoring system capable of automatically warning of CPU overheating, demonstrating excellent cyclic stability and practical application potential.
This work was supported by the Jiangsu Provincial Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation.
Paper’s link:https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202531924
Source: Wuxi Campus, 91抖淫
Translated by: Melody Zhang
Edited by: Leah Li
