The blind mainly relies on Braille books to obtain text information. However, Braille books with invariable content are ponderous and inconvenient to read. Hence, it is essential to find a safe, simple and effective method to develop new Braille devices. This advanced method promises to be the next generation Braille book that is refreshable, flexible, and portable. Therefore, a safe dielectric elastomer Braille device actuated by a triboelectric nanogenerator is designed. It is easy to fabricate, inexpensive, and safe without any potential hazard for blind people. For triboelectric nanogenerators, the friction between two thin films can generate a voltage over 3 kV with a current of just 2 µA to deliver a shape change of the dielectric elastomer membrane. In the meantime, with the support of the pressor air in the chamber, the membrane will be raised up to be a touchable Braille dot. In addition, a programmed switch matrix is designed to control the Braille device with multiple dielectric elastomer dots to realize complicated refreshable display, providing a possibility of a page‐size and portable braille e‐book for the blind in the near future.
Intelligent
actuating materials with vapor-stimulated mechanical
response usually require complicated synthesizing processes or have
a high cost. Here, we found that the UV/O3-modified poly(dimethylsiloxane)
PDMS) film can show spontaneous curling deformation when it encounters
small alcohol molecules such as ethanol vapor. Based on the coupling
of the vapor-responsive PDMS film and triboelectric nanogenerator
(TENG), a flexible actuator for object transport and a double-finger
gripper for loading small objects are designed. The deformation and
size change induced by vapor stimulation help these devices to adapt
to the target objects of different sizes, while the electrostatic
force provided by TENG can move or control the target object, for
instance, the double-finger gripper can clamp an object of a weight
of 6 g.
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