Spider Silk‐Inspired High‐Damping Liquid Crystal Elastomer Fibers Enabled by Semi‐Interpenetrating Networks

Abstract

ABSTRACT Inspired by the β‐sheet nanocrystals in natural spider silk, we develop a high‐damping polycrystalline‐phase liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) fiber enabled by a semi‐interpenetrating network. Continuous large‐scale fabrication of this crosslinked system is realized using a unique channel‐confinement strategy. By innovatively designing the end‐group molecular structures of linear polymers, we precisely regulate the liquid‐crystal phases within the semi‐interpenetrating network fibers. Four distinct liquid‐crystal phases are constructed, mimicking the β‐sheet nanocrystals of spider silk to enable efficient energy dissipation. The resulting fibers exhibit a high elastic modulus of 47.6 MPa, outstanding toughness of 60.4 MJ m −3 , a high dissipation coefficient of 88.6%, an ultra‐broad damping temperature window, a wide damping frequency range, and a strong actuation stress. When woven into damping nets for impact buffering, the nets exhibit a tunable memory recovery time and an exceptionally low dynamic rebound ratio of 5.9%, enabling efficient impact‐energy adsorption and secure capture. Overall, this work overcomes the long‐standing trade‐off among mechanical, actuation performance, and damping capacity of LCEs, and provides a universal strategy for elastomer‐based damper design and precise liquid crystal phase control, opening new opportunities for applications in elastomer dampers, artificial muscles, and soft robotic systems.