3D printing of biomimetic liquid crystal elastomers with enhanced energy absorption capacities

Spider dragline silks are noted for their unmatched toughness, which arises from their unique primary structure. However, the underlying mechanisms of this toughness have seldom been verified using synthetic structural materials. Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are polymer networks with mechanical properties bearing high resemblances to those of spider silks, and are ideal material for mimicking the primary structure of spider silk and revealing its toughing mechanisms. This study introduces a LCEs-based energy absorption structure that mimics the primary structure of spider dragline silks via 3D printing method. This LCEs-based biomimetic structure offers superior toughness and energy absorption capabilities with a damping capacity of 90%, significantly surpassing that of both artificial and biological viscoelastic materials. We successfully demonstrated that the biological primary structure provides the highest energy absorption capacity than other structures. This superior energy absorption capability was examined through hysteresis tests and then validated through intuitive ball free-falling tests. The work will illuminate a new pathway in the development of kinetic energy buffering and absorption materials.