Development of particle/liquid-crystal composite gels with high strength and high toughness

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25410217
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Organic and hybrid materials
• Research Institution: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Yamamoto Takahiro 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, 機能化学研究部門, 主任研究員 (70392678)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YOSHIDA Masaru 産業技術総合研究所, 機能化学研究部門, 副研究部門長 (40344147) ; KIHARA Hideyuki 産業技術総合研究所, 機能化学研究部門, 研究グループ長 (60282597)
• Research Collaborator: KAWATA Yuki
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 液晶 / ゲル / 自己修復

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We revealed that the mechanical properties of particle/liquid-crystal composite gels were improved by introducing the layer structures of molecules into liquid-crystal phases. On the other hand, helix structure in liquid-crystal phases was found to worsen the mechanical properties of the composite gels. In addition, by introducing polymers into the composite gels, we found that the storage modulus of the composite gels was increased by an order of magnitude compared to that of the previous composite gels. The developed composite gels exhibited two self-healing abilities: spontaneous repairing of surface dents and photochemical mending of surface cracks. Furthermore, we successfully developed near-infrared-light responsive composite gels by means of a gold nanorod as an additional component.

Free Research Field

材料化学