Maurin Victor, Chang Yilong, Ze Qiji, Leanza Sophie, Wang Jing, Zhao Ruike Renee
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Adv Mater. 2024 Aug;36(34):e2302765. doi: 10.1002/adma.202302765. Epub 2023 Oct 27.
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are a class of stimuli-responsive materials that have been intensively studied for applications including artificial muscles, shape morphing structures, and soft robotics due to their capability of large, programmable, and fully reversible actuation strains. To fully take advantage of LCEs, rapid, untethered, and programmable actuation methods are highly desirable. Here, a liquid crystal elastomer-liquid metal (LCE-LM) composite is reported, which enables ultrafast and programmable actuations by eddy current induction heating. The composite consists of LM sandwiched between two LCE layers printed via direct ink writing (DIW). When subjected to a high-frequency alternating magnetic field, the composite is actuated in milliseconds. By moving the magnetic field, the eddy current is spatially controlled for selective actuation. Additionally, sequential actuation is achievable by programming the LM thickness distribution in a sample. With these capabilities, the LCE-LM composite is further exploited for multimodal deformation of a pop-up structure, on-ground omnidirectional robotic motion, and in-water targeted object manipulation and crawling.
液晶弹性体（LCEs）是一类对刺激有响应的材料，由于其具有大的、可编程的和完全可逆的驱动应变能力，已被广泛研究用于人工肌肉、形状变形结构和软机器人等应用领域。为了充分利用LCEs，快速、无束缚且可编程的驱动方法是非常必要的。在此，报道了一种液晶弹性体-液态金属（LCE-LM）复合材料，它通过涡流感应加热实现超快和可编程驱动。该复合材料由夹在通过直接墨水书写（DIW）打印的两个LCE层之间的液态金属组成。当受到高频交变磁场作用时，该复合材料在数毫秒内即可被驱动。通过移动磁场，可以在空间上控制涡流以实现选择性驱动。此外，通过对样品中液态金属厚度分布进行编程可实现顺序驱动。凭借这些能力，LCE-LM复合材料进一步被用于弹出式结构的多模态变形、地面全向机器人运动以及水中目标物体操纵和爬行。
