  Deformations of amorphous polymer networks prepared with significant
concentrations of liquid crystalline mesogens have been recently reported to
undergo mechanotropic phase transitions. Here, we report that these
mechanotropic phase transitions are accompanied by an elastocaloric response
($\Delta T = 2.9 \text{ K}$). Applied uniaxial strain to the elastomeric
polymer network transitions the organization of the material from a disordered,
amorphous state (order parameter $Q=0$) to the nematic phase ($Q=0.47$). Both
the magnitude of the elastocaloric temperature change and mechanically induced
order parameter are dependent on the concentration of liquid crystal mesogens
in the material. While the observed temperature changes in these materials are
smaller than those observed in shape memory alloys, the responsivity, defined
as the temperature change divided by the input stress, is larger by an order of
magnitude.
