Electrospun liquid crystal elastomer microfiber actuator
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- 11 August 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science Robotics
- Vol. 6 (57)
- https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abi9704
Abstract
Fibers capable of generating axial contraction are commonly seen in nature and engineering applications. Despite the broad applications of fiber actuators, it is still very challenging to fabricate fiber actuators with combined large actuation strain, fast response speed, and high power density. Here, we report the fabrication of a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) microfiber actuators using a facile electrospinning technique. Owing to the extremely small size of the LCE microfibers, they can generate large actuation strain (~60 percent) with a fast response speed (6 cycles of loading and unloading with the maximum strain of 20 percent at high temperature (90 degree Celsius). The small diameter of the LCE microfiber also results in a self-oscillatory behavior in a steady temperature field. In addition, with a polydopamine coating layer, the actuation of the electrospun LCE microfiber can be precisely and remotely controlled by a near-infrared laser through photothermal effect. Using the electrospun LCE microfiber actuator, we have successfully constructed a microtweezer, a microrobot, and a light-powered microfluidic pump.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Science Foundation (CMMI-1554212)
- National Science Foundation (CMMI-1762560)
- Office of Naval Research (N00014-17-1-2062)
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