Optical Pendulum Generator Based on Photomechanical\nLiquid-Crystalline Actuators

Abstract

For converting light energy into\nelectricity, an optical pendulum\ngenerator was designed by combining photomechanical movement of liquid-crystalline\nactuator (LCA) with Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction.\nBilayer cantilever actuators were first fabricated with LDPE and LCA.\nTheir photomechanical movement drove the attached copper coils to\ncut magnetic line of force generating electricity. The output electricity\nwas proportional to the changing rate of the magnetic flux, which\nwas greatly influenced by light intensity, film thickness, and sample\nsize. Continuous electrical output was also achieved. This simple\nstrategy may expand applications of photoactive materials in the capture\nand storage of light energy.