Ebrahim Shahabi, Majid Shabani, Fabian Meder, Barbara Mazzolai
{"title":"Solar Spectrum Light-Driven Silicone-Based Fluidic Actuators","authors":"Ebrahim Shahabi, Majid Shabani, Fabian Meder, Barbara Mazzolai","doi":"10.1002/apxr.202400005","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Soft materials that convert light into mechanical energy can create new untethered strategies for actuating soft robotics. Yet, the available light-driven materials are often incompatible with standard fabrication in soft robotics and restricted to shapes (e.g., sheets) that have limited capability for 3D deformation; often laser or focused light is required for actuation. Here, to address these challenges, a straightforward method for synthesizing sunlight-responsive fluidic actuators from off-the-shelf silicone precursors capable of expanding in 3D is developed. A liquid phase and activated carbon as photothermal elements are constrained in the elastomer. Solar spectral light triggers a liquid–gas phase transition creating sufficient pressure to overcome the internal elastic stress and actuate the material. The fluidic actuation is characterized under varying light conditions reaching expansion cycle times between ≈20–500 s, strains of 28%, and actuation stress of ≈1.3 MPa in different experiments. The materials were then used to exemplarily drive a mechanical switch, a liquid dispensing soft pump, a valve, and a bending actuator. As the described materials are easy to produce in a 5 min synthesis by standard molding techniques, it is believed that they are a promising opportunity for embodied energy converters in environmentally powered soft robots that respond to sunlight.</p>","PeriodicalId":100035,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Physics Research","volume":"3 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/apxr.202400005","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Advanced Physics Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/apxr.202400005","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Soft materials that convert light into mechanical energy can create new untethered strategies for actuating soft robotics. Yet, the available light-driven materials are often incompatible with standard fabrication in soft robotics and restricted to shapes (e.g., sheets) that have limited capability for 3D deformation; often laser or focused light is required for actuation. Here, to address these challenges, a straightforward method for synthesizing sunlight-responsive fluidic actuators from off-the-shelf silicone precursors capable of expanding in 3D is developed. A liquid phase and activated carbon as photothermal elements are constrained in the elastomer. Solar spectral light triggers a liquid–gas phase transition creating sufficient pressure to overcome the internal elastic stress and actuate the material. The fluidic actuation is characterized under varying light conditions reaching expansion cycle times between ≈20–500 s, strains of 28%, and actuation stress of ≈1.3 MPa in different experiments. The materials were then used to exemplarily drive a mechanical switch, a liquid dispensing soft pump, a valve, and a bending actuator. As the described materials are easy to produce in a 5 min synthesis by standard molding techniques, it is believed that they are a promising opportunity for embodied energy converters in environmentally powered soft robots that respond to sunlight.