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Fabrication of Carbon-Based Ionic Electromechanically Active Soft Actuators
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Reconfigurable Soft Actuators with Multiple-Stimuli Responses.

Tonghui Zhao1,2,3, Wenchao Dou2,3, Zhiming Hu1,2,3

  • 1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.

Macromolecular Rapid Communications
|August 9, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces a new soft actuator that can change shape in response to light, humidity, and heat. These reconfigurable actuators offer versatile functions for advanced sensors and smart robots.

Keywords:
hydrogen bondsmultiple-stimuli responsesreconfigurationsupramolecular actuatorsthermoplasticity

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Polymer Science
  • Robotics

Background:

  • Soft actuators are crucial for applications like sensors, robots, and biomedical devices.
  • Current soft actuators often lack shape reconfigurability and multi-stimuli responsiveness, limiting their multifunctionality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a novel reconfigurable soft actuator with multiple-stimuli responses and tunable initial shapes.
  • To overcome the limitations of single-shape and non-reconfigurable soft actuators.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of a bilayer actuator using a supramolecular polymer (poly(5-Norbornene-2-carboxylic acid-1,3-cyclooctadiene) and azopyridine derivative) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
  • Integration of light responsiveness via azopyridine derivative and humidity responsiveness via carboxylic groups in the supramolecular layer.
  • Utilizing the thermoplastic nature of PET for thermal-induced shape reconfiguration.

Main Results:

  • The developed bilayer actuator exhibits reversible responses to light, humidity, and heat.
  • Actuators can be reconfigured into various initial shapes and perform multiple functions, demonstrated by photo-driven 'foldback-clip' and Ω-shaped crawling robots.
  • Bio-inspired plant structures made from these actuators show reversible multi-stimuli responses.

Conclusions:

  • The novel reconfigurable supramolecular polymer/PET bilayer actuator offers tunable geometries and actuation modes.
  • These actuators hold significant potential for developing advanced multifunctional devices for diverse technological applications.