Microfiber Actuators With Hot-Pressing-Programmable Mechano-Photothermal Responses for Electromagnetic Perception

Abstract

Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is a ubiquitous harm and hard to detect dynamically in multiple scenarios. A mechano-photothermal cooperative microfiber film (MFF) actuator is developed that can synchronously detect EMR with high reliability. The programmable actuation is deployed by a hot-pressing methodology, achieving the MFF with moderate modulus (378 MPa) and superior toughness (87.26 MJ m⁻³) that ensure superior response (0.068 cm⁻¹ s⁻¹) and bending curvature (0.63 cm⁻¹). A secondary hot-pressing can further program the actuation behavior with black phosphorus local photothermal enhancement patterns to achieve 2D–3D transformable geometries. An amphibious robot with a land–water adaptive locomotion mechanism is designed by programming the MFFs. It can crawl on land and locomote on water with a velocity up to ≈1.8 mm s⁻¹, and ≈2.39 cm s⁻¹, respectively. Employing the conductive fabric layer of the actuator with electromagnetic induction effect, the amphibious robot can synchronously perceive environmental EMR with sensitivity up to 99.73% ± 0.15% during locomotion, with superior adaptability to EMR source intensity (0.1 to 3000 W) and distance (≈9 m) compared to a commercial EMR detector. This EMR detective microfiber actuator can inspire a new direction of environment-interactive smart materials, and soft robots with multi-scenario adaptivity and autonomous environment perceptivity.