Zhang Jiachen, Guo Yubing, Hu Wenqi, Soon Ren Hao, Davidson Zoey S, Sitti Metin
Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, 70569, Germany.
Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zürich, Zürich, 8092, Switzerland.
Adv Mater. 2021 Feb;33(8):e2006191. doi: 10.1002/adma.202006191. Epub 2021 Jan 14.
Stimuli-responsive and active materials promise radical advances for many applications. In particular, soft magnetic materials offer precise, fast, and wireless actuation together with versatile functionality, while liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are capable of large reversible and programmable shape-morphing with high work densities in response to various environmental stimuli, e.g., temperature, light, and chemical solutions. Integrating the orthogonal stimuli-responsiveness of these two kinds of active materials could potentially enable new functionalities and future applications. Here, magnetic microparticles (MMPs) are embedded into an LCE film to take the respective advantages of both materials without compromising their independent stimuli-responsiveness. This composite material enables reconfigurable magnetic soft miniature machines that can self-adapt to a changing environment. In particular, a miniature soft robot that can autonomously alter its locomotion mode when it moves from air to hot liquid, a vine-like filament that can sense and twine around a support, and a light-switchable magnetic spring are demonstrated. The integration of LCEs and MMPs into monolithic structures introduces a new dimension in the design of soft machines and thus greatly enhances their use in applications in complex environments, especially for miniature soft robots, which are self-adaptable to environmental changes while being remotely controllable.
刺激响应性和活性材料有望在许多应用中取得重大进展。特别是，软磁材料提供精确、快速和无线驱动以及多功能性，而液晶弹性体（LCE）能够响应各种环境刺激（如温度、光和化学溶液），以高工作密度进行大的可逆和可编程形状变形。整合这两种活性材料的正交刺激响应性可能会带来新的功能和未来应用。在此，将磁性微粒（MMP）嵌入LCE薄膜中，以利用两种材料的各自优势，同时不影响它们各自的刺激响应性。这种复合材料能够实现可重构的磁性软微型机器，使其能够自适应不断变化的环境。特别是，展示了一种微型软机器人，它在从空气移动到热液体时能够自主改变其运动模式，一种能够感知并缠绕在支撑物上的藤蔓状细丝，以及一种光可切换的磁性弹簧。将LCE和MMP集成到整体结构中，为软机器的设计引入了一个新的维度，从而大大增强了它们在复杂环境中的应用，特别是对于微型软机器人，它们能够在远程可控的同时自适应环境变化。
