Zhang Pei, Debije Michael G, de Haan Laurens T, Schenning Albert P H J
Stimuli-Responsive Functional Materials and Devices, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
SCNU-TUE Joint Lab of Device Integrated Responsive Materials (DIRM), National Center for International Research on Green Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, P. R. China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 May 4;14(17):20093-20100. doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c03392. Epub 2022 Apr 22.
Cuttlefish can modify their body shape and both their pigmentary and structural colors for protection. This adaptability has inspired the development of appearance-changing polymers such as structural color actuators, although in most cases, the original shape has been confined to being flat, and pigmented structural color actuators have not yet been reported. Here, we have successfully created a pigmented structural color actuator using a cholesteric liquid crystal elastomer with a lower actuation temperature where both actuation and coloration (structural and pigmental) are tunable with temperature and NIR light. The shape, structural color, and absorption of the NIR-absorbing dye pigment of the actuator all change with temperature. Light can be used to trigger local in-plane bending actuation in flat films and local shape changes in a variety of 3D-shaped objects. A cuttlefish mimic that can sense light and respond by locally changing its appearance was also made to demonstrate the potential of pigmented structural color actuators for signaling and camouflage in soft robotics.
乌贼可以改变身体形状以及色素色和结构色以进行自我保护。这种适应性激发了诸如结构色致动器等外观变化聚合物的发展，不过在大多数情况下，其原始形状仅限于扁平状，且尚未有色素结构色致动器的相关报道。在此，我们成功地利用一种具有较低致动温度的胆甾型液晶弹性体制备了一种色素结构色致动器，其致动和显色（结构色和色素色）均可通过温度和近红外光进行调节。致动器的形状、结构色以及近红外吸收染料色素的吸收情况均随温度变化。光可用于触发平面薄膜中的局部面内弯曲致动以及各种三维形状物体的局部形状变化。我们还制作了一种能感知光线并通过局部改变外观做出响应的乌贼仿生模型，以展示色素结构色致动器在软机器人技术中用于信号传递和伪装的潜力。
