Department of Physics , Indian Institute of Technology Delhi , Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016 , India.
Solid State Physics Laboratory , Lucknow Road , Timarpur, Delhi 110054 , India.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Oct 10;10(40):33956-33965. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b11440. Epub 2018 Sep 25.
Graphene polymers-based soft actuators driven by infrared (IR) light have attracted wide attention recently. However, the scientific fraternity is striving hard in unraveling the area of actuators that could be triggered by IR light along with chemicals. The fabricating methodology of multiresponsive soft actuators based on graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs)-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) nanocomposite/gold bilayers, ensuring large, fast, and reversible response, has been illustrated. The actuators display a novel dual-mode operation as photomechanical and chemomechanical actuation. The actuators are realized by depositing a thin film (100 nm) of gold on GNP-PDMS nanocomposite films resulting tubular structure on account of thermal residual stress. The actuation response of this structure upon its exposure to IR light and chemicals was measured in terms of percentage opening and degree of unscroll, respectively. The three-dimensional tubular structure is transformed into a two-dimensional sheet within 8 s under IR light irradiation. The same structures were also tested in various organic solvents like methanol, ethanol, acetone, isopropyl alcohol, and aldehydes, but the actuation has been observed only in acetone and aldehydes. This tubular actuator unscrolls completely and then scrolls in opposite direction along with tube axis shift through 90° during its exposure to acetone (liquid/vapors) and aldehydes. Few applications of these actuators, such as multimode soft grippers for on-demand capture/release of objects (with weight 1.2 times the actuator's own weight) and volatile organic compounds detection module, have been demonstrated. The combination of surface micromachining techniques of microelectromechanical systems process with this smart material may find applications in drug-delivery systems with precise control, soft robotics, and noninvasive diagnosis of diabetes and breast/lung cancers.
基于石墨烯聚合物的红外(IR)光驱动软致动器最近引起了广泛关注。然而,科学界正在努力研究能够同时被 IR 光和化学物质触发的致动器领域。本文展示了一种基于石墨烯纳米片(GNPs)-聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)纳米复合材料/金双层的多响应软致动器的制造方法,该方法确保了大、快、可逆的响应。致动器显示出光机械和化学机械致动的新型双模操作。通过在 GNP-PDMS 纳米复合材料薄膜上沉积 100nm 厚的金薄膜,致动器实现了管状结构,这是由于热残余应力的原因。该结构在暴露于 IR 光和化学物质时的致动响应分别以百分比开口和未展开程度来测量。在 IR 光照射下,这种三维管状结构在 8 秒内转变为二维薄片。同样的结构也在各种有机溶剂如甲醇、乙醇、丙酮、异丙醇和醛中进行了测试,但只有在丙酮和醛中观察到了致动。这种管状致动器完全展开,然后在暴露于丙酮(液体/蒸气)和醛时沿着管轴方向反向滚动,同时轴旋转 90°。这些致动器的一些应用,例如用于按需捕获/释放物体(重量是致动器自身重量的 1.2 倍)的多模式软夹爪和挥发性有机化合物检测模块,已经得到了演示。这种智能材料与微机电系统工艺的表面微加工技术的结合可能在精确控制的药物输送系统、软机器人以及糖尿病和乳腺癌/肺癌的非侵入性诊断中得到应用。