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Development and challenges of smart actuators based on water-responsive materials.
Yiwei Zhang1,2,3, Chuang Zhang2,3, Ruiqian Wang2,3,4
1School of Automation and Electrical Engineering, Shenyang Ligong University, Shenyang 110159, Liaoning, China. zlz2686312@sina.com.
Soft Matter
|July 29, 2022
Summary
Smart actuators using water-responsive (WR) materials harness humidity for motion without external power. This review details biological and synthetic WR materials for advanced actuators in robotics and energy harvesting.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Engineering
- Robotics
Background:
- Water-responsive (WR) materials offer controllable mechanical responses to humidity, enabling smart actuators without external energy input.
- These actuators convert ambient humidity into mechanical motion, finding applications in soft robots, micro-generators, smart buildings, and textiles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review the development of smart actuators based on diverse WR materials.
- To summarize properties of biological WR materials and their actuator applications.
- To detail synthetic WR materials and their smart actuator applications.
Main Methods:
- Review of biological WR materials: plant, animal, and microorganism-based.
- Review of synthetic WR materials: hydrophilic polymers, graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, and others.
- Analysis of challenges in actuator design, control, and compatibility for WR actuators.
Main Results:
- Compilation of properties and applications for various biological WR materials in actuators.
- Detailed overview of synthetic WR materials and their integration into smart actuators.
- Identification of key challenges and potential solutions for WR actuator development.
Conclusions:
- WR materials are crucial for developing advanced smart actuators with diverse applications.
- Further research into actuator design, control, and compatibility is needed for WR actuators.
- This review supports advancements in WR material-based soft actuators and renewable energy applications.
