Liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) have attracted considerable attention in applications involving advanced soft actuators and robots. Emerging LCEs with high actuation stresses and actuation strains are desirable for practical applications. However, it is a common sense that improvements in the specific mechanical properties of LCEs must come at the expense of other features. In this work, an LCE material was prepared by a simple thiol-acrylate reaction followed by light-initiated radical polymerization. By adjusting the content of pendant liquid crystal (LC) mesogens, the crosslinking density of the LC network was regulated, and the actuation of the LCE was optimized. Introduction of the pendant LC mesogens reduced the actuation temperature and improved the actuation strain, while the acrylate-functionalized MXene nanosheets crosslinked the LCE matrix, ensuring high actuation stress and photothermal conversion. As a result, this work simultaneously enhanced the actuation stress and actuation strain of the LCE by introducing pendant LC mesogens and MXene nanosheets as cross-linkers, which avoided the limitations of previous LCE actuators, such as actuation by high temperature or harmful ultraviolet light, and physical doping-induced molecular disturbances. This greatly improved the overall actuation performance (the actuation stress was 0.773 MPa, and the actuation strain was 45%) and realized reversible deformation (54%) under near-infrared light. This strategy might provide a new way to optimize the capabilities of LCE actuators.

液晶弹性体（LCE）在涉及先进软执行器和机器人的应用中引起了广泛关注。具有高驱动应力和驱动应变的新兴 LCE 非常适合实际应用。然而，众所周知，LCE 特定机械性能的改进必须以牺牲其他功能为代价。在这项工作中，LCE 材料是通过简单的硫醇-丙烯酸酯反应，然后进行光引发自由基聚合来制备的。通过调节悬垂液晶（LC）介晶的含量，调节LC网络的交联密度，并优化LCE的驱动。悬垂液晶介晶的引入降低了驱动温度并改善了驱动应变，而丙烯酸酯功能化的MXene纳米片交联了LCE基质，确保了高驱动应力和光热转换。因此，这项工作通过引入悬垂的液晶介晶和MXene纳米片作为交联剂，同时增强了LCE的驱动应力和驱动应变，避免了以前LCE驱动器的局限性，例如高温或有害紫外线驱动，和物理掺杂引起的分子扰动。这大大提高了整体驱动性能（驱动应力为0.773 MPa，驱动应变为45%），并实现了近红外光下的可逆变形（54%）。该策略可能提供一种优化 LCE 执行器功能的新方法。