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Download fileMultiresponse Shape-Memory Nanocomposite with a Reversible Cycle for Powerful Artificial Muscles
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posted on 19.01.2021, 11:31 authored by Chi Chen, Yangyuanchen Liu, Ximin He, Hua Li, Yujie Chen, Ying Wei, Yusen Zhao, Yanfei Ma, Zhen Chen, Xu Zheng, Hezhou LiuIn
the field of bionic soft robots and microrobots, artificial
muscle materials have exhibited unique potential for cutting-edge
applications. However, current mainstream thermal-responsive artificial
muscles based on semicrystalline polymers (SCPs), despite their excellent
physical properties, suffer from the limitation of environmental stimuli
in practice, while their photodriven counterparts adopting liquid
crystal elastomers (LCEs) lack ductility. Herein, a novel multifunctional
programmable artificial muscle with a unique patch-sewing structure
formed by π–π stacking between azobenzene groups
was designed, which combined the advantages of SCPs and LCEs. The
nanocomposite demonstrated a unique combination between artificial
muscle performance (46.5 times the energy density and 26.6 times the
power density of human skeletal muscles) and programmability (274.84%
strain and 100% shape-memory recovery rate within 1 s). Meanwhile,
coupling the photoisomerization of azobenzene and the photothermal
conversion of gold nanorods, the cycle of deformation triggered by
ultraviolet light and restoring by infrared light could be accomplished
rapidly within 30 s. A COMSOL Multiphysics model was established and
the corresponding finite element analysis verified the photoactuation
and captured the general principle of light initiation in elastomers.
These demonstrate that the multifunctional programmable elastomer
is promising for artificial muscle applications, especially for photoinduced
actuation.
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Keywords
crystal elastomersphotothermal conversion26.6 timeselement analysislack ductilitygold nanorodspatch-sewing structurephotoinduced actuationphotodriven counterpartsmuscle applicationsSCPCOMSOL Multiphysics modelLCEmainstream thermal-responsivelight initiationenergy densitysemicrystalline polymersazobenzene groupsmuscle materialsReversible CycleMultiresponse Shape-Memory Nanocomp...power densitynovel multifunctional