Department of Engineering Mechanics, AML, Center for Mechanics and Materials, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
Macromol Rapid Commun. 2018 Apr;39(7):e1700716. doi: 10.1002/marc.201700716. Epub 2018 Jan 4.
A semicrystalline polymer actuator, which is responsive to solvent vapor with fast and large scale locomotion, is described. The thermoset semicrystalline polymer can be easily synthesized from crystallizable polyester segment poly (ε-caprolactone) and isophorone diisocyanate trimer. Organic solvent vapor is used to induce the reversible swelling-crystallization conversion of the crystallizable polyester segment, resulting in its expansion/shrinkage. The contraction of the polymer actuator (1 mm thick) needs only ≈4 s in room temperature. When exposed to air the polymer actuator can exhibit a fast self-oscillation. Then, a soft crawler based on this polymer is demonstrated. Driven by organic solvent it walks rapidly and steadily. The microscope images show the fast swelling-crystallization conversion that gives rise to reversible shape changes of the polymer.
一种半晶聚合物致动器，对溶剂蒸气具有快速和大规模运动的响应，被描述。热固性半晶聚合物可以很容易地从可结晶聚酯段聚（ε-己内酯）和异佛尔酮二异氰酸酯三聚体合成。有机溶剂蒸气用于诱导可结晶聚酯段的可逆溶胀-结晶转化，导致其膨胀/收缩。聚合物致动器（1 毫米厚）的收缩仅需 ≈4 秒在室温下。当暴露于空气中时，聚合物致动器可以表现出快速的自激振荡。然后，展示了一种基于这种聚合物的软体爬行器。在有机溶剂的驱动下，它可以快速稳定地行走。显微镜图像显示了快速的溶胀-结晶转化，导致聚合物的可逆形状变化。
