Stimuli-responsive cylindrical hydrogels mimic intestinal peristalsis to propel a solid object

Soft Matter ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 3582-3588 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Nistor ◽  
J. Cannell ◽  
J. Gregory ◽  
L. Yeghiazarian
Keyword(s):  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Solid Object ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Responsive Materials ◽  
Load Transport ◽  
Intestinal Peristalsis

The emerging field of soft robotics relies on soft, stimuli-responsive materials to enable load transport, manipulation, and mobility in complex unconstrained environments.

scholarly journals Recent Progress on Plant-Inspired Soft Robotics with Hydrogel Building Blocks: Fabrication, Actuation and Application

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 608
Author(s):  
Zhenyu Xu ◽  
Yongsen Zhou ◽  
Baoping Zhang ◽  
Chao Zhang ◽  
Jianfeng Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Building Materials ◽  
Recent Progress ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Responsive Materials ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
External Stimuli

Millions of years’ evolution has imparted life on earth with excellent environment adaptability. Of particular interest to scientists are some plants capable of macroscopically and reversibly altering their morphological and mechanical properties in response to external stimuli from the surrounding environment. These intriguing natural phenomena and underlying actuation mechanisms have provided important design guidance and principles for man-made soft robotic systems. Constructing bio-inspired soft robotic systems with effective actuation requires the efficient supply of mechanical energy generated from external inputs, such as temperature, light, and electricity. By combining bio-inspired designs with stimuli-responsive materials, various intelligent soft robotic systems that demonstrate promising and exciting results have been developed. As one of the building materials for soft robotics, hydrogels are gaining increasing attention owing to their advantageous properties, such as ultra-tunable modulus, high compliance, varying stimuli-responsiveness, good biocompatibility, and high transparency. In this review article, we summarize the recent progress on plant-inspired soft robotics assembled by stimuli-responsive hydrogels with a particular focus on their actuation mechanisms, fabrication, and application. Meanwhile, some critical challenges and problems associated with current hydrogel-based soft robotics are briefly introduced, and possible solutions are proposed. We expect that this review would provide elementary tutorial guidelines to audiences who are interested in the study on nature-inspired soft robotics, especially hydrogel-based intelligent soft robotic systems.

scholarly journals Programmable Stimuli-Responsive Actuators for Complex Motions in Soft Robotics: Concept, Design and Challenges

Actuators ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Gilles Decroly ◽  
Antoniya Toncheva ◽  
Loïc Blanc ◽  
Jean-Marie Raquez ◽  
Thomas Lessinnes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Science ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Soft Materials ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Concept Design ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Responsive Materials ◽  
Stimulus Responsive ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Soft Actuators

During the last years, great progress was made in material science in terms of concept, design and fabrication of new composite materials with conferred properties and desired functionalities. The scientific community paid particular interest to active soft materials, such as soft actuators, for their potential as transducers responding to various stimuli aiming to produce mechanical work. Inspired by this, materials engineers today are developing multidisciplinary approaches to produce new active matters, focusing on the kinematics allowed by the material itself more than on the possibilities offered by its design. Traditionally, more complex motions beyond pure elongation and bending are addressed by the robotics community. The present review targets encompassing and rationalizing a framework which will help a wider scientific audience to understand, sort and design future soft actuators and methods enabling complex motions. Special attention is devoted to recent progress in developing innovative stimulus-responsive materials and approaches for complex motion programming for soft robotics. In this context, a challenging overview of the new materials as well as their classification and comparison (performances and characteristics) are proposed. In addition, the great potential of soft transducers are outlined in terms of kinematic capabilities, illustrated by the related application. Guidelines are provided to design actuators and to integrate asymmetry enabling motions along any of the six basic degrees of freedom (translations and rotations), and strategies towards the programming of more complex motions are discussed. As a final note, a series of manufacturing methods are described and compared, from molding to 3D and 4D printing. The review ends with a Perspectives section, from material science and microrobotic points of view, on the soft materials’ future and close future challenges to be overcome.

Smart Polymers and their Applications: A Review

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gore S. A. ◽  
Gholve S. B. ◽  
Savalsure S. M. ◽  
Ghodake K. B. ◽  
Bhusnure O. G. ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Solution Temperature ◽  
Smart Polymers ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Responsive Materials ◽  
Water Soluble Polymers ◽  
Commercial Applications ◽  
Stimuli Sensitive ◽  
External Stimuli

Smart polymers are materials that respond to small external stimuli. These are also referred as stimuli responsive materials or intelligent materials. Smart polymers that can exhibit stimuli-sensitive properties are becoming important in many commercial applications. These polymers can change shape, strength and pore size based on external factors such as temperature, pH and stress. The stimuli include salt, UV irradiation, temperature, pH, magnetic or electric field, ionic factors etc. Smart polymers are very promising applicants in drug delivery, tissue engineering, cell culture, gene carriers, textile engineering, oil recovery, radioactive wastage and protein purification. The study is focused on the entire features of smart polymers and their most recent and relevant applications. Water soluble polymers with tunable lower critical solution temperature (LCST) are of increasing interest for biological applications such as cell patterning, smart drug release, DNA sequencing etc.

Sensitive Mechanocontrolled Luminescence in Cross-Linked Polymer Films

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayumu Karimata ◽  
Pradnya Patil ◽  
Eugene Khaskin ◽  
Sébastien Lapointe ◽  
robert fayzullin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Stress ◽  
Polymer Films ◽  
Soft Matter ◽  
Small Strain ◽  
Visual Methods ◽  
Photoluminescence Intensity ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Responsive Materials ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Mechanical Stretching

Direct translation of mechanical force into changes in chemical behavior on a molecular level has important implication not only for the fundamental understanding of mechanochemical processes, but also for the development of new stimuli-responsive materials. In particular, detection of mechanical stress in polymers via non-destructive methods is important in order to prevent material failure and to study the mechanical properties of soft matter. Herein, we report that highly sensitive changes in photoluminescence intensity can be observed in response to the mechanical stretching of cross-linked polymer films when using stable, (pyridinophane)Cu-based dynamic mechanophores. Upon stretching, the luminescence intensity increases in a fast and reversible manner even at small strain (< 50%) and applied stress (< 0.1 MPa) values. Such sensitivity is unprecedented when compared to previously reported systems based on organic mechanophores. The system also allows for the detection of weak mechanical stress by spectroscopic measurements or by direct visual methods.<br>

scholarly journals Redox-State Dependent Spectroscopic Properties of Porous Organic Polymers Containing Furan, Thiophene, and Selenophene

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (11) ◽  
pp. 1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Hua ◽  
Stone Woo ◽  
Aditya Rawal ◽  
Floriana Tuna ◽  
James M. Hook ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solid State ◽  
Redox State ◽  
Spectroscopic Properties ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Organic Polymers ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Porous Organic Polymers ◽  
Paramagnetic Resonance ◽  
Responsive Materials ◽  
State Dependent

A series of electroactive triarylamine porous organic polymers (POPs) with furan, thiophene, and selenophene (POP-O, POP-S, and POP-Se) linkers have been synthesised and their electronic and spectroscopic properties investigated as a function of redox state. Solid state NMR provided insight into the structural features of the POPs, while in situ solid state Vis-NIR and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroelectrochemistry showed that the distinct redox states in POP-S could be reversibly accessed. The development of redox-active porous organic polymers with heterocyclic linkers affords their potential application as stimuli responsive materials in gas storage, catalysis, and as electrochromic materials.

scholarly journals Shape memory polymer network with thermally distinct elasticity and plasticity

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. e1501297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Zhao ◽  
Weike Zou ◽  
Yingwu Luo ◽  
Tao Xie
Keyword(s):  
Shape Memory ◽  
Molecular Design ◽  
Shape Change ◽  
Shape Memory Polymer ◽  
Polymer Network ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Responsive Materials ◽  
Device Applications ◽  
Temperature Ranges ◽  
Rational Molecular Design

Stimuli-responsive materials with sophisticated yet controllable shape-changing behaviors are highly desirable for real-world device applications. Among various shape-changing materials, the elastic nature of shape memory polymers allows fixation of temporary shapes that can recover on demand, whereas polymers with exchangeable bonds can undergo permanent shape change via plasticity. We integrate the elasticity and plasticity into a single polymer network. Rational molecular design allows these two opposite behaviors to be realized at different temperature ranges without any overlap. By exploring the cumulative nature of the plasticity, we demonstrate easy manipulation of highly complex shapes that is otherwise extremely challenging. The dynamic shape-changing behavior paves a new way for fabricating geometrically complex multifunctional devices.

Stimuli-Responsive Polymers for Soft Robotics

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusen Zhao ◽  
Mutian Hua ◽  
Yichen Yan ◽  
Shuwang Wu ◽  
Yousif Alsaid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Systems ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Liquid Crystal Polymers ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Stimuli Responsive Polymers ◽  
Responsive Polymers ◽  
Evaluation Of Performance ◽  
Robotic Applications

This article reviews recent progress in the use of stimuli-responsive polymers for soft robotics. First, we introduce different types of representative stimuli-responsive polymers, which include liquid crystal polymers and elastomers, hydrogels, shape memory polymers, magnetic elastomers, electroactive polymers, and thermal expansion actuators. We focus on the mechanisms of actuation and the evaluation of performance and discuss strategies for improvements. We then present examples of soft robotic applications based on stimuli-responsive polymers for bending, grasping, walking, swimming, flying, and sensing control. Finally, we discuss current opportunities and challenges of stimuli-responsive soft robots for future study. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Volume 5 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Stimuli-Responsive Materials: Self-Adapting Wettability of ReS2 under a Constant Stimulus (Adv. Mater. 46/2018)

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (46) ◽  
pp. 1870345
Author(s):  
Wenjie Wang ◽  
Jiaqian Zhang ◽  
Qin Zhang ◽  
Siyu Wan ◽  
Xiaohui Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Constant Stimulus ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Responsive Materials

scholarly journals Multiresponsive polymeric microstructures with encoded predetermined and self-regulated deformability

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (51) ◽  
pp. 12950-12955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxing Yao ◽  
James T. Waters ◽  
Anna V. Shneidman ◽  
Jiaxi Cui ◽  
Xiaoguang Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Transition Temperature ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Liquid Crystalline ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Stimuli Responsive ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Deformation Behaviors ◽  
Deformation Modes ◽  
Biological Organisms

Dynamic functions of biological organisms often rely on arrays of actively deformable microstructures undergoing a nearly unlimited repertoire of predetermined and self-regulated reconfigurations and motions, most of which are difficult or not yet possible to achieve in synthetic systems. Here, we introduce stimuli-responsive microstructures based on liquid-crystalline elastomers (LCEs) that display a broad range of hierarchical, even mechanically unfavored deformation behaviors. By polymerizing molded prepolymer in patterned magnetic fields, we encode any desired uniform mesogen orientation into the resulting LCE microstructures, which is then read out upon heating above the nematic–isotropic transition temperature (TN–I) as a specific prescribed deformation, such as twisting, in- and out-of-plane tilting, stretching, or contraction. By further introducing light-responsive moieties, we demonstrate unique multifunctionality of the LCEs capable of three actuation modes: self-regulated bending toward the light source at T < TN–I, magnetic-field–encoded predetermined deformation at T > TN–I, and direction-dependent self-regulated motion toward the light at T > TN–I. We develop approaches to create patterned arrays of microstructures with encoded multiple area-specific deformation modes and show their functions in responsive release of cargo, image concealment, and light-controlled reflectivity. We foresee that this platform can be widely applied in switchable adhesion, information encryption, autonomous antennae, energy harvesting, soft robotics, and smart buildings.

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