Liquid crystal elastomers are rubbers with liquid crystal order. They contract along their nematic director when heated or illuminated. The shape changes are large and occur in a relatively narrow temperature interval, or at low illumination, around the nematic-isotropic transition. We present a conceptual design of a mechanical, turbine-based engine using photo-active liquid crystal elastomers to extract mechanical work from light. Its efficiency is estimated to be 40%.
@article{arxiv.1406.5217,
title = {Optomechanical conversion by mechanical turbines},
author = {Milos Knezevic and Mark Warner},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1406.5217},
year = {2014}
}