The growing severity of environmental problems such as plastic waste and climate change has inspired active research into solutions based on recyclable and renewable energy devices. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) that convert wasted mechanical energy into electrical energy offer a solution that needs to be made recyclable to reduce or eliminate the generation of electronic waste (e‐waste) on their disposal. In this study, an all‐recyclable TENG (AR‐TENG) based on a thermoplastic polymer with a nanohole pattern is developed; it delivers an excellent output power density of 1.547 W m−2 (peak output voltage = 360 V, current = 22 µA) and shows superior mechanochemical stability by maintaining its performance after immersion into seawater or 1 000 000 cyclic tests. The practical utility of this AR‐TENG is demonstrated through its use to power a buoy‐type ocean monitoring system and an intelligent life jacket, whereas recyclability is demonstrated by the re‐fabrication of the AR‐TENG; reusability in other devices is validated by the successful fabrication of a plasmonic color filter. This work paves the way for the efficient harvesting of renewable energy without the concomitant production of e‐waste; therefore, it contributes to the mitigation of global environmental problems such as global warming and ozone depletion.
Due to recent progress on wearable robotics, developing high‐performance fabric and textile actuators to be integrated with various soft electronic devices is urgently needed and remains a challenging issue. Here, a novel knot‐architectured fabric actuator (KAFA), showing superior features such as self‐locking crossing, mechanical robustness, facile fabrication at very low cost, high force generation, and large actuation strain, is reported. The actuation principle of KAFA is based on the shape recovery of constituent nitinol fibers that can restore the memorized curvature in the knotted architectures. Further, the KAFA can be conveniently operated by Joule heating, resulting in reliable actuation due to its seamlessly conductive circuit network. In addition, the KAFA shows exceptionally high force, up to 1373 times its own weight and around 30% actuation strain. The newly developed fabric actuators are applied to a wearable actuation device to lift weighty luggage and an adaptive controllable surface to grip spiky, irregular, fragile, and slippery objects. These applications demonstrate the wide potential of KAFAs for future wearable robotic products such as rehabilitative devices and powered exoskeletons.
Electro-ionic soft actuators, capable of continuous deformations replacing noncompliant rigid mechanical components, attract increasing interest in the field of next-generation metaverse interfaces and soft robotics. Here, a novel MXene (Ti 3 C 2 T x ) electrode anchoring manganese-based 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate metal-organic framework (MnBTC) for ultrastable electro-ionic artificial muscles is reported. By a facile supramolecular self-assembly, the Ti 3 C 2 T x -MnBTC hybrid nanoarchitecture forms coordinate bond, hydrogen bond, and hydrophilic interaction with the conducting polymer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS), resulting in a mechanically flexible and electro-ionically active electrode. The superior electrical and electrochemical performances of the electrode stem from the synergistic effects between intrinsically hierarchical nanoarchitecture of MnBTC and rapid electron transport behavior of Mxene, leading to fast diffusion and accommodation of ions in the ion-exchangeable membrane. The developed artificial muscle based on Ti 3 C 2 T x -MnBTC is found to exhibit high bending displacement (12.5 mm) and ultrafast response time (0.77 s) under a low driving voltage (0.5 V), along with wide frequency response (0.1-10 Hz) and exceptional stability (98% retention at 43,200 s) without any distortion of actuation performance. Furthermore, the designed electro-active artificial muscle is successfully used to demonstrate mimicry of eye motions including eyelid blinking and eyeball movement in a doll.
There is growing demand for multiresponsive soft actuators for the realization of natural, safe, and complex motions in robotic interactions. In particular, soft actuators simultaneously stimulated by electrical and magnetic fields are always under development owing to their simple controllability and reliability during operation. Herein, magnetically and electrically driven dual‐responsive soft actuators (MESAs) derived from novel nickel‐based metal–organic frameworks (Ni‐MOFs‐700C), are reported. Nanoscale Ni‐MOFs‐700C has excellent electrochemical and magnetic properties that allow it to be used as a multifunctional material under both magnetoactive and electro‐ionic actuations. The dual‐responsive MESA exhibits a bending displacement of 30 mm and an ultrafast rising time of 1.5 s under a very low input voltage of 1 V and also exerts a bending deflection of 12.5 mm at 50 mT under a high excitation frequency of 5 Hz. By utilizing a dual‐responsive MESA, the hovering motion of a hummingbird robot is demonstrated under magnetic and electrical stimuli.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.