  Recently, Van der Kooij and co-workers recognised three distinct, transient
regimes in the dynamics of electrically-deforming liquid crystal networks [Van
der Kooij et al., Nat. Commun. 10, 1 (2019)]. Based on a Landau-theoretical
framework, which encompasses spatially resolved information, we interpret these
regimes: initially, the response is dominated by thermal noise, then the top of
the film expands, followed by a permeation of this response into the bulk. An
important signature of this interpretation is a significant dependence of the
regime time scales on film thickness, where we observe a clear
thin-film-to-bulk transition. The point of transition coincides with the
emergence of spatial inhomogeneities in the bulk, i.e., domain formation, and
should be avoided due to the less predictable steady-state expansion it gives
rise to. Finally, we show that this domain formation can be suppressed by
decreasing the initial thickness of the film, and increasing the linear
dimensions of the mesogens, or their orientational order when crosslinked into
the network, though this comes at the cost of the deformation magnitude. Our
results contribute to achieving finer control over how smart liquid crystal
network coatings are activated.
