Wang Xiaodong, Jiao Niandong, Tung Steve, Liu Lianqing
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049 , China.
Department of Mechanical Engineering , University of Arkansas , Fayetteville , Arkansas 72701 , United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 Aug 21;11(33):30290-30299. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b09491. Epub 2019 Aug 13.
Highly deformable and photoresponsive smart actuators are attracting increasing attention. Here, a high concentration of graphene is dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) by combining the advantages of various dispersion methods. The composite and pure PDMS layers are used to fabricate bilayer actuators with a high capacity for rapid deformation. The fabricated bilayer actuators exhibit novel and interesting properties. A bilayer actuator containing a 30 wt % graphene composite can be deflected by 7.9 mm in the horizontal direction under infrared laser irradiation. The graphene concentration in the composite influences actuator adjustment to deformation and its response speed, and the composite also exhibits superhydrophobicity. On the basis of its superhydrophobicity and large deformation capacity, the actuator made with 30 wt % graphene composite is used to construct a beluga whale soft robot. The robot can swim quickly in water at an average speed of 6 mm/s, and it can cover a distance of 30 mm in 5 s when irradiated just once with an infrared laser. Actuators fabricated with this method can be used in artificial muscle, bionic grippers, and various soft robots that require actuators with large deformation capacities.
高变形性和光响应性的智能致动器正吸引着越来越多的关注。在此，通过结合各种分散方法的优点，将高浓度的石墨烯分散在聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）中。复合层和纯PDMS层用于制造具有高快速变形能力的双层致动器。所制造的双层致动器展现出新颖且有趣的特性。含30 wt%石墨烯复合材料的双层致动器在红外激光照射下可在水平方向偏转7.9毫米。复合材料中的石墨烯浓度影响致动器对变形的调节及其响应速度，并且该复合材料还表现出超疏水性。基于其超疏水性和大变形能力，用30 wt%石墨烯复合材料制成的致动器被用于构建白鲸软机器人。该机器人能够在水中以平均6毫米/秒的速度快速游动，并且在仅用红外激光照射一次的情况下，5秒内可游动30毫米的距离。用这种方法制造的致动器可用于人造肌肉、仿生夹具以及各种需要具有大变形能力致动器的软机器人。
