I. Soft robot/actuator [Link]
I. Soft robot/actuator [Link]
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1. Untethered and Ultrafast Soft-bodied Robots
1. Untethered and Ultrafast Soft-bodied Robots
We demonstrate a series of simulation-guided, lightweight, durable, untethered and ultrafast magnetic soft-bodied robots performing large amplitude of deformations (rotation angle > 90 degree) at high frequencies of up to 100 Hz. Our robots can be driven with a very small magnetic field as small as 0.5 mT, which is 20 times less than that of the general magnetic robots. We developed a numerical model aiding the fundamental understanding of these nonlinear dynamics in ultrafast soft robots. The inspiring flower-shaped soft robot design with ultrafast actuation is able to momentarily wrap a living fly in 35 ms. The speed of closure is about eight times fast than that of Venus Flytrap.
When our multi-arm soft-bodied robots respond at a certain range of high frequencies, they show strongly nonlinear dynamic actuation that is named as “cross-clapping” motion, which is predicted by simulation and observed by experiments. Our soft-bodied robots are readily fabricated using scalable methods, extremely resilient, and highly versatile, durable and multifunctional. They can walk, swim, levitate, and transport cargo being driven using external magnetic fields.
II. Nano/micro robots
II. Nano/micro robots
1. High‐Motility Visible Light‐Driven Ag/AgCl Janus Microswimmers
1. High‐Motility Visible Light‐Driven Ag/AgCl Janus Microswimmers
Visible light‐driven fuel-free nano/microswimmers are promising candidates for biomedical and environmental applications. I fabricate and demonstrate blue light‐driven Ag/AgCl‐based spherical Janus microswimmers, which couple plasmonic light absorption with the photochemical decomposition of AgCl. These microswimmers reveal high motility in pure water, i.e., mean squared displacements reaching 800 µm2 within 8 s. The results are useful for the design of new visible‐light‐driven high‐motility plasmonic photocatalysis microswimmers for applications in bioenvironments demanding low toxicity and nondestructive illumination conditions, such as water purification and antibacterial action.
2. Visible Light Actuated Efficient Exclusion Between Plasmonic Ag/AgCl Microswimmers and Passive Beads
2. Visible Light Actuated Efficient Exclusion Between Plasmonic Ag/AgCl Microswimmers and Passive Beads
Insight is provided into the collective behavior of visible‐light photochemically driven plasmonic Ag/AgCl Janus particles surrounded by passive polystyrene (PS) beads. The active diffusion of single Janus particles and their clusters (small: consisting of two or three Janus particles and large: consisting of more than ten Janus particles), and their interaction with passive PS beads, are analyzed experimentally and in simulations. The diffusivity of active Janus particles, and thus the exclusive effect to passive PS beads, can be regulated by the number of single Janus particles in the cluster. This complex mixed system not only provides insight to the interactive effect between active visible light‐driven self‐propelled microswimmers and passive beads, but also offers promise for implications in light‐controlled propulsion transport and chemical sensing.
3. Fuel‐Free Nanocap‐Like Motors Actuated Under Visible Light
3. Fuel‐Free Nanocap‐Like Motors Actuated Under Visible Light
A cap‐shaped Au/TiO2 nanomotors are presented that show enhanced Brownian motion under visible light in water in a fuel‐free manner. The motion results from the surface plasmon resonance efUrea-Powered Biocompatible Hollow Microcapsulesfect leading to self‐electrophoresis between the Au and TiO2 layers. This mechanism is named plasmonic photocatalytic effect, demonstrated experimentally and by finite‐difference time‐domain simulations.
4. Anisotropic exclusion effect between photocatalytic Ag/AgCl Janus particles and passive beads in a dense colloidal matrix
4. Anisotropic exclusion effect between photocatalytic Ag/AgCl Janus particles and passive beads in a dense colloidal matrix
We report on the anisotropy of active-passive particle interaction in a soft matter system containing an immobile yet photochemical Ag/AgCl-based Janus particle embedded in a dense matrix of passive beads in pure water. The asymmetry in the chemical gradient around the Janus particle, triggered upon visible light illumination, distorts the isotropy of the surrounding electric potential and results in the repulsion of adjacent passive beads to a certain distance away from the Janus particle. This exclusion effect is found to be anisotropic with larger distances to passive beads in front of the Ag/AgCl cap of the Janus particle. We provide insight into this phenomenon by performing the angular analysis of the radii of exclusion and tracking their time evolution at the level of a single bead.
5. Urea-Powered Biocompatible Hollow Microcapsules
5. Urea-Powered Biocompatible Hollow Microcapsules
We present an active hybrid microcapsule motor based on Janus hollow mesoporous silica microparticles powered by the biocatalytic decomposition of urea at physiological concentrations. The directional self-propelled motion lasts longer than 10 min with an average velocity of up to 5 body lengths per second. Additionally, we control the velocity of the micromotor by chemically inhibiting and reactivating the enzymatic activity of urease. Furthermore, the mesoporous/hollow structure can load both small molecules and larger particles up to hundreds of nanometers, making the hybrid micromotor an active and controllable drug delivery microsystem.
III. Flexible devices
III. Flexible devices
1. Stretchable conductors based on silver nanowires
1. Stretchable conductors based on silver nanowires
We report a new fabrication method for binary-network-structured polyurethane sponge-Ag nanowire-poly(dimethylsiloxane) stretchable conductors with high performance. The key to constructing a binary network structure is to use commercially available PU sponge with a 3D-conjunction-free micro-network structure as the skeleton for supporting Ag NW networks. The stretchable conductors exhibit high electrical conductivity (exceeding 19.2 S cm-1) and excellent electromechanical stability under high tensile strain (50 %) and a small bend radius (1 mm).
2. A Flexible and Highly Pressure Sensitive Graphene-Polyurethane Sponge Based on Fractured Microstructure Design
2. A Flexible and Highly Pressure Sensitive Graphene-Polyurethane Sponge Based on Fractured Microstructure Design
We show a new type of piezoresistive sensor with ultrahigh pressure sensitivity (0.26 kPa-1) in low pressure range (< 2 kPa) based on fractured microstructure design in graphene nanosheets wrapped polyurethane sponge (PUS). Our developed graphene wrapped PUS pressure sensor can be directly used to fabricate low cost and high spatial resolution artificial skin without complex nanostructure design.
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