Department of Colloid Chemistry, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany.
Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2014 Jul 1;5:4293. doi: 10.1038/ncomms5293.
Fast actuation speed, large-shape deformation and robust responsiveness are critical to synthetic soft actuators. A simultaneous optimization of all these aspects without trade-offs remains unresolved. Here we describe porous polymer actuators that bend in response to acetone vapour (24 kPa, 20 °C) at a speed of an order of magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art, coupled with a large-scale locomotion. They are meanwhile multi-responsive towards a variety of organic vapours in both the dry and wet states, thus distinctive from the traditional gel actuation systems that become inactive when dried. The actuator is easy-to-make and survives even after hydrothermal processing (200 °C, 24 h) and pressing-pressure (100 MPa) treatments. In addition, the beneficial responsiveness is transferable, being able to turn 'inert' objects into actuators through surface coating. This advanced actuator arises from the unique combination of porous morphology, gradient structure and the interaction between solvent molecules and actuator materials.
快速的动作速度、大变形和强响应对于合成软致动器至关重要。在不做出权衡的情况下同时优化所有这些方面仍然没有得到解决。在这里，我们描述了多孔聚合物致动器，它们在丙酮蒸气（24 kPa，20°C）的作用下以比现有技术快一个数量级的速度弯曲，同时进行大规模运动。它们同时对干燥和潮湿状态下的多种有机蒸气具有多响应性，因此与传统的凝胶致动系统不同，后者在干燥时会失去活性。该致动器易于制造，即使经过水热处理（200°C，24 小时）和加压处理（100 MPa）后仍能存活。此外，有益的响应能力是可转移的，能够通过表面涂层将“惰性”物体变成致动器。这种先进的致动器源于多孔形态、梯度结构以及溶剂分子和致动器材料之间相互作用的独特组合。
