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Three-Dimensional Programmable, Reconfigurable, and Recyclable Biomass Soft Actuators Enabled by Designing an Inverse Opal-Mimetic Structure with Exchangeable Interfacial Crosslinks
journal contribution
posted on 2020-03-20, 19:34 authored by Yong Zhu, Junqi Zhang, Qi Wu, Mokun Chen, Guangsu Huang, Jing Zheng, Jinrong WuDespite
the unceasing flourishing of intelligent actuators, it
still remains a huge challenge to design mechanically robust soft
actuators with the characteristics of three-dimensional (3D) programmability,
reconfigurability, and recyclability. Here, we utilize fully bioderived
natural polymers to fabricate biomass soft actuators (BioSA) integrating
all above features through an ingenious microstructure design. BioSA
consists of an interconnected inverse opal-mimetic skeleton of sodium
alginate (NaAlg) and a continuous matrix of epoxidized natural rubber
(ENR), with exchangeable β-hydroxyl ester linkages at their
interfaces. The hydrophilic nature and interconnected structure of
the NaAlg skeleton endow BioSA with exceedingly acute humidity response
and robust mechanical properties. Meanwhile, the dynamic nature of
β-hydroxyl ester linkages enables the design of complex 3D structured
soft actuators with reconfigurability and recyclability. Since both
ENR and NaAlg are derived from natural resources, and the water-based
manufacturing process is extremely facile and environmentally friendly,
this work provides a novel strategy to fabricate 3D programmable intelligent
actuators with both robust mechanical properties and sustainability.