Enhancing soft robots with chemical shielding for harsh corrosive liquid environments

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Robotics
• Surface Chemistry

Background:

• Soft robots are ideal for underwater tasks but degrade in corrosive liquids.
• Elastomeric components are vulnerable to acids, bases, and solvents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a universal chemical shielding strategy for elastomer-based soft robots.
• To enhance the durability and operational range of soft robots in harsh chemical environments.

Main Methods:

• Spray-coating elastomer-based soft robots with a superomniphobic skin using fluorinated silica nanoparticles.
• Testing the protective coating against various corrosive liquids (toluene, sulfuric acid, chloroform).
• Evaluating the performance of coated soft robots (actuators) under different actuation methods (pneumatic, light, magnetic).

Main Results:

• The superomniphobic coating demonstrated high contact angles (>150°) and low roll-off angles (<10°), preventing liquid wetting.
• Coated soft robots showed robust performance (swimming, crawling, manipulation) without degradation in harsh chemical environments.
• Uncoated soft robots experienced immediate and irreversible damage when exposed to the same corrosive conditions.

Conclusions:

• A scalable approach for creating chemically resilient soft robots was established.
• The superomniphobic shielding strategy significantly enhances soft robot durability in corrosive liquids.
• This innovation enables new possibilities for soft robot deployment in challenging environments like biomedicine, chemical inspection, and pollution remediation.