ADVANCED MATERIALS
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2025
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IF 26.8
Xiaofei Li,Yiming Du,Xiaoshuan Pan,Chao Xiao,Xin Ding,Kang Zheng,Xianglan Liu,Lin Chen,Yi Gong,Meng Xue,Xingyou Tian,Xian Zhang
Asymmetric-expansion photothermal actuators have attracted the attention of researchers owing to their simple structure, superior stability, rapid response, and precise controllability. However, their response speed, deformation capacity, and load-carrying capacity are mutually constrained by their thickness. Inspired by the veins and pulp in plant leaves, this study uses laser etching to apply a superstructure of ordered grooves to liquid metal (LM) photothermal actuators. The resulting LM@low-expansion polyimide (4.52 ppm K −1 )/polydimethylsiloxane (LM@PI/PDMS) programmable photothermal actuators demonstrate exceptional performance, including a load-carrying capacity of 190 times their weight, a rapid oscillation frequency of 19 Hz, a response speed of 60.96 ± 3.08°/ s, and a bending angle of 159.05 ± 2.52°. Hence, the proposed design resolves the inherent conflict between the load-carrying capacity and response speed. Furthermore, incorporating LM microspheres into actuators increases their stability and allows them to endure more than 20 800 cycles without damage. The actuators are used to create versatile smart devices and robots, such as photothermally actuated robotic dogs that can function across various terrains. This study provides a novel strategy for the design and fabrication of programmable photothermal actuators and highlights their potential for applications in advanced robotics, which paves the way for their integration into complex environments.
研究领域:
材料科学
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机器人学
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生物仿生学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
·
2023
·
IF 8.4
Guinan Chen,Jiahao Li,Nanjun Li,Chenglong Guo,Peng Jin,Liangjun Chen,Yongwu Peng
Thermal bimorph actuators have important applications in artificial muscles, switches, and microsensors for robotics and biomimetic devices. To broaden the adaptability of environments, it is essential to fabricate thermal actuators with multiple stimulus responses, including electricity, near-infrared (NIR) light, and ultraviolet (UV) light, with fast and large deformations . Herein, a thermal actuator with programmable stimuli response was designed by combining silver nanowires (AgNWs) with Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene . Due to the synergistic effect of AgNWs with high plasmonic properties and electrical conductivity as well as Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene with good flexibility and photothermal properties, the obtained actuator can roll up for 2200° at a low driving voltage (2 V) and shows a fast response speed of 0.4 s for a bending angle of 360° under NIR light. More remarkably, the obtained thermal actuator can curl 360° in 1.2s under UV light which has never been reported before. We believe that such thermal actuators are attractive for a wide range of innovative technologies involving soft-bodied robots, intelligent grippers, bionic worms, and information cryptography.
研究领域:
材料科学
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智能设备
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仿生学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Advanced Intelligent Systems
·
2020
·Vol. 2
·期 8
·2000036
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IF 0
Guinan Chen,Zhonglin Yang,Wenwen Wang,Lili Bi,Liangjun Chen,Yongwu Peng,Changhui Ye
The ability to fabricate electrothermal actuators (ETAs) simultaneously featuring ultrafast response speed (within 0.1 s), large deformation (bending for at least 360°), high figure-of-merit (FoM, larger than 0.1%), and low driving voltage (smaller than 1 V) in a single device is extremely important and challenging for their applications in artificial muscles, switches, and microsensors for robotics and biomimetic devices. Herein, an ETA composed of a silver nanowire (AgNW) layer and an ultrathin linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) film with all the aforementioned features is designed. Due to the high conductivity of the AgNW layer and the great difference between the coefficients of thermal expansion of AgNW layer and LLDPE film as well as the huge change in the heat transfer coefficient between flat and rolled ETA, the obtained ETA exhibits an ultrafast response speed of 0.08 s for a bending angle of 360° with a FoM of 0.46% at a low driving voltage of 1 V, over one order of magnitude larger than those of reported ETAs. As a proof-of-concept application, the as-prepared ETAs can be used as intelligent mechanical devices with excellent performance.
研究领域:
材料科学
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仿生学
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机器人技术
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产品关联
DOI
NEW JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
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2023
·Vol. 47
·期 12
·5825-5831
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IF 3.3
Cheng Zhou,Shengping Dai,Xiaoshuang Zhou,Hao Zhu,Guanggui Cheng,Jianning Ding
Inspired by the stimuli-responsive ability of biological, a variety of hydrogel have been prepared by stimulus, showing great application value in actuators, soft robots, etc. However, it is still challenging to prepare a toughness hydrogel by the way of stimuli-responsive. Herein, we constructed a novel dual-network structure PNIPAM/PVA hydrogel using reversible molecular configuration conversion of PNIPAM chains. Under the stimulus of ethanol, the elastic modulus of PNIPAM/PVA hydrogel can be increased by 47 times (5 times the change of the modulus of sea cucumbers’ tissue) and the stress can be six times of the original. The dynamic borate ester bond formed by the cross-linking of PVA and borax in the hydrogel enables rapid self-healing (η > 99%) within three minutes without external stimulus in the natural environment. In addition, PNIPAM/PVA hydrogels also showed outstanding underwater reversible thermokinetic properties (>25°) based on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic conversion of PNIPAM under thermal stimulation. The successful preparation of ethanol stimulus-enhancing self-healing PNIPAM/PVA hydrogel actuators, provides a new idea for the development of the soft underwater robots.
研究领域:
材料科学
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生物仿生学
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软体机器人
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产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
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2023
·
IF 9.5
Guinan Chen,Liangjun Chen,Nanjun Li,Jiahao Li,Minchu Huang,Chengtao Gong,Yongwu Peng
The exceptional properties of two-dimensional covalent organic framework materials (2D-COFs), including their large π-conjugated structure at the molecular level and π–π multilayer stacking, have attracted interest for soft photothermal actuator applications. However, the conventional synthesis of COFs as microcrystalline powders limits their processing in water due to their limited dispersibility. Herein, we present a simple and environmentally friendly method to fabricate water-suspended COF inks by adjusting the surface potential of COF powders through adsorption of ionic species such as Na+ and Cl–. This technique effectively prevents the accumulation and aggregation of COF powder, resulting in an aqueous COF ink that can be easily cast into homogeneous hybrid COF films by Mayer-rod coating. In addition, the resulting photothermal actuator exhibited a fast response time within 3 s at a curvature of 2.35 cm–1 in the near-infrared light. This facile and practical approach to fabricating water-based COFs ink represents a promising strategy for the development of practical applications of COFs in photothermal actuators.
研究领域:
材料科学
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光热应用
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
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2022
·
IF 9.965
Tian-Ying Liu,Fan Jia,Qian Li,Li Liu,Jian-Ye Gao,Dong-Dong Li,Qian Wang,Jing Liu
Hypothesis The high surface tension of liquid metal (LM) causes interface incompatibility and poor bonding strength with many substrates. Fine adjustment towards the properties of the surface area is sufficient to introduce strong bonding. Hence, we hypothesize that the interlocking structure using hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a “bridge” should be helpful for tight interfacial bonding of LM with polymeric substrates, thus achieving high-performance LM/polymer membranes, which have wide applications in the field of soft sensors and robotics. Experiments The bulk EGaIn was fabricated into LM nanoparticles (LMNPs@PVA) solution. Then, PVA molecules were “doped” into the surface crosslink of the plasma treated polymer substrate by an interfacial penetrating method. Afterward, the solution was evenly dropped on the surface of the treated substrate to obtain the LMNP/polymer membrane after the water evaporated. Photothermal actuators were fabricated based on the membranes. Findings During the interlocking structure, PVA macromolecules could be doped and trapped onto the top surfaces of various polymer substrates as binding “bridges” between the LMNPs and the matrix materials. The achieved LMNP membrane exhibites satisfactory bonding strength, durability and water-assisted erase-reprint, which can be used as soft photothermal actuators with remote laser control.
研究领域:
材料科学
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机械工程
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机器人技术
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传感器
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
·
2023
·
IF 8.4
Lvzhou Li,Xu Dong,Jiawei Xu,Yaoyao Jiang,Xiaoshuang Zhou,Qingyue Li,Ningyi Yuan,Jianning Ding
Monodomain liquid crystal elastomers with excellent reversible contraction deformation under a heat stimulus have broad application prospects in artificial muscles, soft robots , and micromechanical systems. Greater control can be achieved in a flexible actuation process through the generation of Joule heat by electricity. Herein, a highly conductive liquid crystal elastomer fibre actuator (c-LCF) was continuously prepared via liquid-phase drawing, with a conductivity of up to 12.5 S/m at 30 ℃. High conductivity is realised by the semi-wrapping combination of the main-chain liquid crystal prepolymer and carbon nanotube/carbon black to achieve a high-concentration dispersion of multi-dimensional conductive carbon nanomaterials . The fabricated c-LCF had a negative temperature coefficient , which is favourable for controllability and fast electrothermal actuation. The c-LCF contracted by approximately 30 % under a load of 1 MPa with a current of 9 mA (28 V/cm, 252 mW/cm). Its output power density reached 0.94 kJ/kg, indicating a better performance than biological muscle fibres; thus, it can be used to construct high-load bio-muscles. The different structures constructed by the c-LCF and fibre bundles can realise different electric actuation modes. In addition, fast driving can be realised using an elastic instability structure. The applications of liquid-crystal elastomers will be significantly broadened by this research.
研究领域:
材料科学
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机械工程
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机器人技术
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纳米技术
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生物医学工程
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）