Light‐Driven Self‐Oscillating Actuators with Phototactic Locomotion Based on Black Phosphorus Heterostructure

Abstract

Developing self-oscillating soft actuators that enable autonomous,c ontinuous,a nd directional locomotion is significant in biomimetic soft robotics fields,b ut remains great challenging.Here,anuntethered soft photoactuators based on covalently-bridged black phosphorus-carbon nanotubes heterostructure with self-oscillation and phototactic locomotion under constant light irradiation is designed. Owing to the good photothermal effect of blackp hosphorus heterostructure and thermal deformation of the actuator components,t he new actuator assembled by heterostructured black phosphorus, polymer and paper produces light-driven reversible deformation with fast and large response.B yu sing this actuator as mechanical power and designing ar obot configuration with self-feedbackl oop to generate self-oscillation, an inchwormlike actuator that can crawl autonomously towards the light source is constructed. Moreover,d ue to the anisotropya nd tailorability of the actuator,a na rtificial crab robot that can simulate the sideways locomotion of crabs and simultaneously change color under light irradiation is also realized.

Light-driven small-scale soft robots: material, design and control

“…Then, the actuator bends downward, shading the light and allowing the actuator to recover and repeat the cycle (oscillate) (figure 8(b)). Hu et al provided an inch-worm-like robot capable of autonomous crawling towards a light source, achieved by removing a part of the robot's head to expose its tail to light (figure 8(c)) [21]. When light irradiates the head of the robot, the robot crawl forward, and the illuminated area on the tail is reduced, which leads to continuous crawling.…”

Bio-inspired rotary flight of light-driven nanocomposite films

“…To achieve robust actuation with adaptable manipulation in complex environments, a variety of light-responsive materials, which range from polyelectrolyte hydrogels, 21 carbon-based materials, [22][23][24][25] crystals 26 to shape-memory polymers 27,28 and liquid-crystalline polymers, 29,30 have been developed for photoactuation. Under the influence of external light signals, these engineered materials can directly convert the light stimulation into desired forces/torques via physical reactions, resulting in the changes of their structures and macroscopic properties.…”

Multi‐Stimuli‐Responsive Weldable Bilayer Actuator with Programmable Patterns and 3D Shapes

“…These smart actuators covert the external energy into mechanical energy to implement the predetermined motions under diverse forms of external stimuli, such as DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202311398 electricity, [1,2] humidity, [3][4][5] light, [6][7][8] heat, [9] and magnetics, [10] and they have revealed intriguing and noteworthy applications in artificial tissues, [11] sensors, [12] soft robots, [13][14][15] drug delivery, [16] and energy storage and conversion, [17][18][19] etc. Currently, the inherent characteristics of actuating materials including the photothermal effect of carbon-based materials, [20] the hygroscopicity of hydrogel materials, [21] or contraction of layer interior space in 2D materials, [6,22,23] have been promoted and integrated to evolve the controllable intelligent film actuators with high performance. The patterning of film actuators can be straightforwardly accomplished through various processing techniques including regional vacuum filtration, [24] molding, [25] mask spray coating, photolithography, [26] and direct printing.…”