Glow-Worm-Inspired Fluorescent Self-Healing Actuators for Soft Robot and Reconfigurable Information Encryption

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Robotics
• Quantum Dot Technology

Background:

• Fluorescent actuators are crucial for bionics and soft robotics.
• Current actuators struggle to balance actuation and fluorescence, limiting complex applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a multifunctional fluorescent actuator with enhanced performance and integrated features.
• To overcome limitations of existing fluorescent actuators in brightness, stability, and functionality.

Main Methods:

• Combining ultra-stable perovskite quantum dots with polyurethane and graphene oxide composites.
• Integrating large deformation, high brightness, high color-purity, color-changing, and self-healing functions.

Main Results:

• Achieved a large bending curvature of 2.48 cm⁻¹.
• Demonstrated high fluorescence quantum yields (58.88%) and narrow full-widths at half-maximum (21 nm).
• Exhibited long-term stability over 1100 cycles and 12h UV exposure, with synergetic color/shape change and self-healing.

Conclusions:

• The developed actuator offers unprecedented multifunctionality for fluorescent soft robotics.
• Demonstrated applications include smart grippers, crawling robots, and dynamic displays for light communication.
• Opens new avenues for advanced soft robotic systems and light-based information display.