Illustration from Scientific Research

Assisted water diffusion: The LCN is fabricated to absorb water molecules, by reducing the thickness or introducing pores. When exposed to humidity the LCN absorbs water molecules, which disrupts the molecular ordering of the liquid crystal mesogens. If water is absorbed equally throughout the LCN, this results in anisotropic deformation based on the alignment of the mesogens. If only one side of the LCN is exposed to humidity, there will be a gradient of absorbed water in the LCN, resulting in bending.

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