20.500.12556/DiRROS-32163 Ageing of thermomechanical and elastocaloric response of liquid crystalline elastomers Main-chain liquid-crystalline elastomers were examined to assess their long-term thermomechanical stability and elastocaloric performance under repeated uniaxial actuation. The monodomain samples, prepared with tunable crosslink densities and well – defined nematic – isotropic (N–I) transitions, were subjected to up to 1,000,000 stretch – retract cycles using a custom extensometer capable of simultaneous strain, stress, and temperature measurements. Relatively small mechanical fatigue and absence of cracking and delamination were observed throughout the test duration, demonstrating excellent mechanical resilience. Repeated cycling produced a gradual enhancement of the elastocaloric temperature change, reaching a steady-state increase after several thousand cycles, consistent with stress-induced stabilisation of mesogenic alignment. Concurrently, the N-I transition temperature decreased by approximately 13 K, indicating partial network relaxation and reorganisation under prolonged loading. These results show that cyclic actuation can improve elastocaloric responsiveness while preserving structural integrity, highlighting MC-LCEs as robust and sustainable candidates for next-generation solid-state heat-management technologies. liquid crystalline elastomers thermomechanical stability elastocaloric performance tekočekristalni elastomeri elastokalorične lastnosti termomehanska stabilnost true false true Taylor & Francis Združeno kraljestvo Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik © 2026 The Author(s). Neznano 2026-08-28 15:23:36 2026-08-28 15:23:37 2026-08-29 04:22:52 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 Nasl. z nasl. zaslona; Soavtorji iz Slovenije: Andraž Rešetič, Zdravko Kutnjak, Brigita Rožič; Opis vira z dne 13. 8. 2026; str. 1-11 iss. Vol. [in press] 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2026-03-26 2026-07-27 2026-08-05 53 1366-5855 10.1080/02678292.2026.2712559 287726083 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02678292.2026.2712559 1 b1c1fc1b-a2e3-11f1-b645-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=50167 RAZ_Morgan_Matic_2026.pdf RAZ_Morgan_Matic_2026.pdf 1 F787609894CFFBCC9DB0686176E618E7 3e741f4a1bf2d223bf6ddaa10e445ecf922d8ed0abcbabd00728902e35b381d3 0088feea-a2e4-11f1-b645-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=50168 Institut Jožef Stefan 0 0 0