Recent Progress in Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuators: Mechanisms, Fabrication, and Multifunctional Applications

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) uniquely couple the anisotropic ordering of liquid crystal (LC) phases with the elasticity of polymer networks, enabling large, reversible, and programmable deformations under diverse stimuli, including light, heat, electric and magnetic fields, humidity, and pneumatic pressure. These capabilities place LCEs at the forefront of next‐generation responsive materials. Recent years have witnessed a surge of interest in LCE‐based actuators, fueled by their promise in robotics, artificial muscles, adaptive textiles, self‐sensing platforms, and medical devices. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress in LCE research, emphasizing fundamental actuation mechanisms, innovative fabrication strategies, and their implementation in cutting‐edge applications. The performance of LCE actuators is critically assessed across a range of application scenarios, highlighting key parameters such as strain magnitude, response time, and energy efficiency. Finally, current challenges–ranging from materials integration and long‐term durability to multifunctional system design–are examined, and promising future directions are outlined to unlock the full potential of LCE actuators in real‐world applications.