Development of Photocured Liquid-Crystalline Electrolytes with Ion-Transport Pathways and their Application to Electroactive Actuators

Original Papers:

(1) Che-Hao Wu, Wenjing Meng, and Masafumi Yoshio "Low-Voltage-Driven Actuators

Using Photo-Cross-Linked Ionic Columnar Liquid-Crystalline Polymer Films." ACS

Materials Lett. 2022, 4, 153–158. (Selected as the front cover.)

(2) Che-Hao Wu, Wenjing Meng, Konstantin Iakoubovskii, and Masafumi Yoshio

"Photocured Liquid-Crystalline Polymer Electrolytes with 3D Ion Transport

Pathways for Electromechanical Actuators." ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2023, 15,

4495–4504.

(3) Che-Hao Wu and Masafumi Yoshio " Nanostructured Liquid-Crystalline Polymer

Films for Ionic Actuators: Self-Assembly of Photopolymerizable Ionic Itaconate

with an Ionic Liquid" J. Mater. Chem. C 2023, 11, 10154–10162. (Selected as the

front cover.)

Conferences:

(1) Che-Hao Wu, Masafumi Yoshio "Development of Ionically-Active Columnar

Liquid-Crystalline Polymer Film Actuators." 70st Symposium on Macromolecules,

Online meeting. (Poster)

(2) Che-Hao Wu, Masafumi Yoshio "Development of Ionically-Active Columnar

Liquid-Crystalline Polymer Film Actuators." 2021 NIMS Student Joint Seminar,

Tsukuba, Ibaraki.

(3) Che-Hao Wu, Masafumi Yoshio "Development of Ionic Liquid–Crystalline Polymer

Membrane Actuators." 71st SPSJ Annual Meeting, Online meeting. (Oral)

(4) Masafumi Yoshio, Che-Hao Wu, Siyo Cao, Chengyang Liu "Electroactive Soft

Actuators Based on Nanosegregated Liquid-Crystalline Electrolytes." 71st

Symposium on Macromolecules, Sapporo, Hokkaido.

(5) Che-Hao Wu, Masafumi Yoshio "Development of Nanostructured Ionic Liquid–

Crystalline Polymer Electrolytes for Electromechanical Actuators." 2022 NIMS

Student Joint Seminar, Tsukuba, Ibaraki. (Excellent Presentation Award.).

(6) Che-Hao Wu, Masafumi Yoshio "Mechanically Tough Micellar Cubic LiquidCrystalline Polymer Electrolytes for Electromechanical Actuators." 72nd SPSJ

Annual Meeting, Takasaki, Gunma. (Oral)

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Acknowledgement

To begin with, I want to convey my heartfelt acknowledgment to the National

Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) for supporting me as a NIMS Graduate Research

Assistantship during my career of doctoral study. I could not be more thankful for the

education and support that it has offered both for personal and professional growth.

First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor,

Professor Dr. Masafumi YOSHIO, for providing me with the opportunity to join this

laboratory. Over the past three years, it has been a tremendous honor to be a part of this

new group and to grow under his guidance. I am also deeply appreciative of his invaluable

advice, unwavering support, and patient assistance throughout every stage of the research

project. His extensive knowledge and experience have facilitated my learning in both

academic research and daily life. With access to abundant research resources in his

laboratory, I have been able to achieve fruitful research results during my Ph.D.

Furthermore, I wish to extend my gratitude to the other members of my thesis committee:

Prof. Masaya SAWAMURA, Prof. Shin MUKAI, Prof. Takuya MASUDA and Prof. Naoto

SHIRAHATA, for their insightful comments and suggestions for this dissertation, as well

as their support and endorsement of my research results.

My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Junko AIMI and my prior professor Dr. Chih-Feng

HUANG for their kind assistance in not only research activity but also daily life.

Especially the great help in my original application for this doctoral program, along with

the warm care and support during my research period. I wouldn't have been able to

embark on this Ph.D. journey without their support. I would also appreciate Dr. Wenjing

MENG for her unwavering discussion and help in professional organic chemistry and

synthesis. Special thanks to her for sharing her life experiences and perspectives, which

enabled me to learn how to maintain an optimistic attitude in the face of setbacks.

I gratefully acknowledge Dr. Konstantin IAKOUBOVSKII for his kindly helping on

TEM measurement and data analysis. I thank my fellow lab-mates Dr. Siyu CAO, Mr.

Chengyang LIU, and Mr. Shunichi SUWA for their discussions and assistance in the

experiments. It has been a pleasure to engage in communication about various

professional knowledge, experimental techniques, and daily life with you, so that I can

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gain invaluable research and life experiences. I would also like to thank the students from

TAKEUCHI group, Dr. Minghan TAN, Mr. Xinhao ZHONG, and Mr. Zhehui JIN for their

support in daily life. Their kind assistance and solicitude have made my studies and life

in Japan an unforgettable experience. Without their tremendous encouragement in the past

few years, it would be impossible to complete my study.

Last but not least, I gratefully appreciate my parents and family for their support in

letting me go on this great adventure. Despite facing some challenges in life, developing

the ability to approach them with a positive mindset is significant growth for me. With

everything I have learned from here, I will forge ahead into the next period of life.

Che-Hao WU

writing there in front of my computer, NIMS, June 2023

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