Functional aerogel coatings on tetrakaidecahedron lattice

Joo, Piljae; Agrawal, Aparna; Yao, Yimin; Teo, Nicholas; Jana, Sadhan

doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2022.111575

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Besides, compared to direct filling methods, the 3D lattice structure design is expected to reduce the filling volume of the fillings and result in higher performance at a lower weight fraction. This structure has been determined recently and can be easily fabricated by vacuum casting and 3D-printing technology. − Moreover, the molten FM and phase-changing polymer matrix can recrystallize with themselves, which may enable the composite to self-healing under heating, conducive to extending the service life of the composite. In all, it is desired to incorporate 3D-architected FM into the stiffness variable composite with excellent electrical conductivity, superior stiffness switchable capacity, and self-healing property via 3D-printing technology for novel soft actuators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft Actuators Enabled by 3D-Architected Low Melting Point Alloys/Polymer Composites with a Large Switching Range

Liu

Wang

Zheng

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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Materials with switchable stiffness, especially dynamically switchable stiffness with a large switching range, have aroused considerable interest in the field of soft actuators. Herein, we designed a three-dimensional (3D)-architected Field’s metal (FM) microstructure and embedded it into a kind of designed phase-changing side-chain stiffness variable polymer to obtain a composite (SUFM) with superior stiffness switchable capacity. SUFM exhibits excellent conductivity under low volume fraction (31.5%). What is more, owing to the rapid solid–liquid switch and ultra-high modulus of FM, the rigid/soft stiffness switch ratio of SUFM can reach up to ultra-high 7532-folds. In addition to the superior stiffness switchable capacity, SUFM also exhibits outstanding shape memory and self-healing properties. Subsequently, a SUFM film was attached to a kind of designed 3D-printing fast-response and stiffness-tunable soft actuator as the stiffness variable unit. The soft actuator has a fast heating–cooling cycle of 41 s under 10 A current with 4 °C water as a coolant. Besides, the stiffness and net force of the soft actuator can reach up to 944 mN/mm and 4590 mN, respectively. The high load capacity and superior switchable stiffness are demonstrated by a robotic gripper equipped with three assembled soft actuators on a 3D-printing base, which can lift objects of arbitrary shapes and various weights up to 2 kg. This work may be further developed into smart components that can be widely used in soft actuators.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft Actuators Enabled by 3D-Architected Low Melting Point Alloys/Polymer Composites with a Large Switching Range

Liu

Wang

Zheng

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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“…Fortunately, rapid advances in additive manufacturing (AM) technology offers an avenue for this problem, 36–39 and the combination of AM and topology optimization provides infinite possibilities for material design. In recent years, metamaterials with controllable structures have also attracted great attention due to their unusual properties and the advent of AM technology 40 . Compared to general topology‐optimized structures, lattice structures as a metamaterial exhibit a combination of excellent characteristics such as high strength and low mass 41,42 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, metamaterials with controllable structures have also attracted great attention due to their unusual properties and the advent of AM technology. 40 Compared to general topology-optimized structures, lattice structures as a metamaterial exhibit a combination of excellent characteristics such as high strength and low mass. 41,42 The tetrakaidecahedron lattice structure, known as the Kelvin foam model, is one of the lattice structures and widely considered to be a geometric model similar to the real metal foam structure, [43][44][45][46] and its open-cell structure can be easily controlled by adjusting the dimensional parameters, so as to generate the wellstructured and lightweight (low volume fraction) metal foam with controlled porosity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D‐Architected low melting point alloys foam microstructure‐reinforced polymer composite with superior stiffness‐switchable for soft actuator

Liu,

Wang,

Yang

et al. 2023

Polymer Composites

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Stiffness variable materials have aroused extensive research interest in smart devices, especially in soft actuators. However, achieving materials with high stiffness switch range remains challenging. Here, a novel three‐dimensional (3D) lightweight Field's metal (FM) foam was developed. Meanwhile, the polymer composite (SUFF) with superior stiffness switchable capacity was fabricated by embedding FM foam into a kind of designed stiffness variable polymer. The SUFF shows outstanding conductivity under relatively low FM volume fraction of 20.6%. Impressively, because of the extremely high modulus and fast transition of FM foam, the stiffness switch ratio of the SUFF are able to reach an ultra‐high value of 6987.5‐folds. Apart from its exceptional stiffness switchable capacity, the SUFF also possesses remarkable shape memory and self‐healing characteristics. Next, the SUFF was then fastened to a soft actuator as the stiffness changing units. The obtained actuator was able to exhibit a short heating–cooling cycle time of 44 s while using 10 A of current and 4°C water for cooling. Moreover, the actuator can reach remarkable values of 973 mN/mm and 4729 mN, respectively, for its stiffness and net force. Then, a soft robot gripper made up of three obtained actuators mounted on a base demonstrates its excellent load and stiffness switchable ability. It can lift a variety of objects with various forms with weights up to more than 3 kg. This study might provide a reference for application of stiffness variable materials in soft actuators.Highlights The FM foam were designed and synthetized by lost‐wax casting method. The polymer composite exhibits large stiffness switching range. The polymer composite achieves 6987.5‐folds rigid/soft stiffness ratio. A 3D‐printing soft actuator was fabricated using obtained polymer composite. The assembled robotic gripper can lift weights up to more than 3 kg.

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“…Fonner and Jana also identified that poor flexibility of aerogels is a concern for handling of aerogel-coated fabrics as filter media and that not all fabric types can be considered. Recent studies used additive manufacturing tools to circumvent the poor flexibility of aerogels and reported fabrication of complex shape aerogel articles for applications in filtration and thermal insulation. − Kulkarni et al recently reported fabrication of an aerogel filter medium using 3D printing for separation of water droplets from ultralow sulfur diesel fuel and observed an efficiency of up to 97% aided by size exclusion of water droplets by the small pores and adsorption of nonionic surfactants on polymer surfaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upcycling of Waste Fabrics into High-Efficiency Air Filters Using Flexible Polyimide Aerogel Coatings

Agrawal,

Farrell,

Jana

2023

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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This work investigates scalable dip coating and roll coating of common woven and nonwoven fabrics with polyimide (PI) sol to obtain high permeability, high-efficiency filter media. After sol–gel transition, the gel-coated fabrics are dried under supercritical conditions to produce aerogel-coated flexible fabrics with significant mesopores that are in turn used in removal of airborne nanoparticles of diameter 25–150 nm. The air permeability, air filtration efficiency, and thermal and mechanical properties are determined. The highest filtration efficiency of 99.82% is obtained for aerogel-coated muslin fabric, followed by cotton (97.99%), polyester (95.54%), and nylon (82.2%) fabrics, compared to the 62% efficiency of a representative surgical mask. The aerogel-coated fabrics show acceptable air permeability of the order of 10–10 m2. The high filtration efficiency in aerogel-coated fabrics originates from the static charge rendered in the PI coating and the size exclusion of particles by mesopores. This work serves as a motivation for conversion of after-use facemasks, surgical masks, and waste fabrics from clothing materials into high-efficiency filter media.

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Functional aerogel coatings on tetrakaidecahedron lattice

Cited by 3 publications

References 35 publications

Soft Actuators Enabled by 3D-Architected Low Melting Point Alloys/Polymer Composites with a Large Switching Range

Soft Actuators Enabled by 3D-Architected Low Melting Point Alloys/Polymer Composites with a Large Switching Range

3D‐Architected low melting point alloys foam microstructure‐reinforced polymer composite with superior stiffness‐switchable for soft actuator

Upcycling of Waste Fabrics into High-Efficiency Air Filters Using Flexible Polyimide Aerogel Coatings

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