Anisotropic Liquid Crystalline Hydrogel Actuators with Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Actuation and Multimodal Locomotion

• • The LCP-PEG hydrogels achieve fracture strength of 11.2–14.7 MPa and fracture strain of 1600%–2100%, enabling robust actuation and load-bearing in soft robotics. • • Fracture energy reaches 1.7–2.8 MJ m−2, indicating high toughness essential for durable actuators in repeated deformation cycles. • • Young’s modulus ranges from 51.2 to 139.9 MPa, providing tunable stiffness for diverse mechanical requirements. • • The hydrogels exhibit multi-stimuli-responsive actuation (humidity, temperature, salty water) and multimodal locomotion (walking, somersaulting, object transfer), expanding operational versatility in soft robotics.