Scalable Coaxial Extrusion of Liquid Crystal Elastomer Optical Fiber Enabling Intrinsic Photomechanical Waveguiding‐Actuation Synergy

Abstract

Abstract Liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) fibers demonstrate exceptional photo‐responsiveness and programmable deformation, yet conventional actuation strategy relying on lateral free‐space light irradiation suffer from inherent limitations, including dynamic self‐occlusion during actuation and operational failure in confined spaces. Herein, a coaxial extrusion strategy is presented for mass‐producing anisotropic LCE optical fibers with integrated photonic waveguiding and self‐regulated actuation capabilities. A custom microfluidic nozzle synchronously extrudes carbon nanotube‐doped LCE core and pristine cladding precursors, achieving uniaxial mesogen alignment through optimized shear‐gravity force coupling. The resulting core‐cladding fibers demonstrate ultralow optical losses (0.63–1.82 dB cm −1 ) enabling long‐range light transmission and remote actuation via commercial fiber coupling. Under 808 nm laser stimulation (100–800 mW), these waveguide‐actuators achieve rapid axial contraction (30% strain/20 s) with >200‐cycle stability, while laser power modulation enables adjustment of contraction strain and bending angle without spatial beam steering. Demonstrated applications include adaptive grippers and self‐steering crawlers, establishing a paradigm for robust photomechanical systems in confined spaces. This work bridges scalable manufacturing with functional integration in soft actuators, offering transformative potential for biomedical robotics and adaptive optomechanical interfaces.