Deng Zixuan, Li Kai, Priimagi Arri, Zeng Hao
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
Department of Civil Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, China.
Nat Mater. 2024 Dec;23(12):1728-1735. doi: 10.1038/s41563-024-02026-4. Epub 2024 Oct 4.
Driving synthetic materials out of equilibrium via dissipative mechanisms paves the way towards autonomous, self-sustained robotic motions. However, obtaining agile movement in diverse environments with dynamic steerability remains a challenge. Here we report a light-fuelled soft liquid crystal elastomer torus with self-sustained out-of-equilibrium movement. Under constant light excitation, the torus undergoes spontaneous rotation arising from the formation of zero-elastic-energy modes. By exploiting dynamic friction or drag, the zero-elastic-energy-mode-based locomotion direction can be optically controlled in various dry and fluid environments. We demonstrate the ability of the liquid crystal elastomer torus to laterally and vertically swim in the Stokes regime. The torus navigation can be extended to three-dimensional space with full steerability of the swimming direction. These results demonstrate the possibilities enabled by prestrained topological structures towards robotic functions of out-of-equilibrium soft matter.
通过耗散机制使合成材料偏离平衡态,为实现自主、自我维持的机器人运动铺平了道路。然而,在具有动态可控性的多样化环境中实现敏捷运动仍然是一项挑战。在此,我们报道了一种具有自我维持的非平衡运动的光驱动软液晶弹性体环面。在恒定光激发下,环面由于零弹性能模式的形成而发生自发旋转。通过利用动态摩擦或阻力,基于零弹性能模式的运动方向可以在各种干燥和流体环境中通过光学方式进行控制。我们展示了液晶弹性体环面在斯托克斯 regime 中横向和垂直游动的能力。环面导航可以扩展到三维空间,实现游泳方向的完全可控性。这些结果证明了预应变拓扑结构对于非平衡软物质机器人功能的可能性。