Co-flow microfluidic synthesis of liquid crystalline actuating Janus particles

A microfluidic synthesis of stimuli-responsive actuating Janus particles composed of a liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) and a polymeric hydrogel is reported. , In this article the microfluidic synthesis and characterization of micrometer sized actuating Janus particles containing a liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) is presented. On one side these Janus particles consist of a hydrophobic liquid crystalline part, featuring strong shape changes during the thermotropic phase transition, whereas the other side contains a hydrophilic polyacrylamide network. The synthesis is based upon the dispersion of two immiscible monomer mixtures in a continuously flowing silicone oil, using two glass capi…