Superflexible Carbon Nanofibers for Multidimensional Complex Deformation Sensing in Soft Robots

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Robotics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Soft robots exhibit complex, multidimensional deformations challenging traditional motion monitoring.
• Existing flexible sensors often lack the capability to track these intricate surface changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate superflexible carbon nanofibers for monitoring complex deformations in soft robots.
• To investigate the unique mechanical properties of these biomimetic nanofibers.

Main Methods:

• Biomimetic design inspired by spider silk.
• Fabrication using electrospinning and carbonization.
• Microscopic folding tests and mechanical simulations incorporating origami principles.

Main Results:

• Fabricated bundled carbon nanofibers exhibit 180° microscopic folding and sustain multidimensional shrinkage without damage over 200,000 cycles.
• Fibers possess ultra-low bending resistance, two orders of magnitude lower than A4 paper.
• Bending resistance shows a step change correlating with deformation angles and radii.

Conclusions:

• The developed ultraflexible carbon nanofibers are ideal for fabricating sensors in soft robots.
• A sensor demonstrated successful monitoring of irregular shrinkage deformations.
• This work offers a new pathway for designing conductive materials for extreme shape-morphing monitoring in soft robotics.