Nie Zhen-Zhou, Zuo Bo, Wang Meng, Huang Shuai, Chen Xu-Man, Liu Zhi-Yang, Yang Hong
Jiangsu Province Hi-Tech Key Laboratory for Bio-medical Research, State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Institute of Advanced Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Nat Commun. 2021 Apr 20;12(1):2334. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22644-9.
Twisted toroidal ribbons such as the one-sided Möbius strip have inspired scientists, engineers and artists for many centuries. A physical Möbius strip exhibits interesting mechanical properties deriving from a tendency to redistribute the torsional strain away from the twist region. This leads to the interesting possibility of building topological actuators with continuous deformations. Here we report on a series of corresponding bi-layered stripe actuators using a photothermally responsive liquid crystal elastomer as the fundamental polymeric material. Employing a special procedure, even Möbius strips with an odd number of twists can be fabricated exhibiting a seamless homeotropic and homogeneous morphology. Imposing a suitable contraction gradient under near-infrared light irradiation, these ribbons can realize continuous anticlockwise/clockwise in-situ rotation. Our work could pave the way for developing actuators and shape morphing materials that need not rely on switching between distinct states.
诸如单侧莫比乌斯带之类的扭曲环形带已经激发了科学家、工程师和艺术家几个世纪。物理莫比乌斯带展现出有趣的机械性能,这些性能源自将扭转应变从扭曲区域重新分布的趋势。这带来了构建具有连续变形的拓扑致动器的有趣可能性。在此,我们报告了一系列相应的双层条纹致动器,其使用光热响应性液晶弹性体作为基本聚合物材料。采用一种特殊工艺,甚至可以制造出具有奇数扭曲的莫比乌斯带,展现出无缝的垂直和平坦形态。在近红外光照射下施加合适的收缩梯度,这些带材可以实现连续的逆时针/顺时针原位旋转。我们的工作可为开发无需依赖不同状态之间切换的致动器和形状变形材料铺平道路。