Mechanical adaptability of artificial muscles from nanoscale molecular action

Lancia, Federico; Ryabchun, Alexander; Nguindjel, Anne‐Déborah C.; Kwangmettatam, Supaporn; Katsonis, Nathalie

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12786-2

Cited by 67 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Although muscle extension and contraction have been widely simulated, the major challenge of developing artificial molecular muscles with practical functions is the realization of muscle‐like mechanical adaptability, which may largely limit the further applications of these systems. Taking inspiration from the mutable collagenous tissues of biological systems, Katsonis and coworkers developed actuating materials with complex mechanical adaptability by incorporating phase heterogeneity in a liquid crystal polymer network (Figure a). Exposure to UV light resulted in material stiffening or softening, depending on the molar ratio ( R ′) between the free liquid crystal and the azobenzene‐based network (Figure b).…”

Section: Macroscale Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Driving Smart Molecular Systems by Artificial Molecular Machines

Shi

Zhang

Tian

et al. 2020

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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Biomolecular machines are widely present in nature, especially in complex living organisms, and are involved in important biological processes. Inspired by nature and increasingly mature synthetic technologies, a series of artificial molecular machines (AMMs) that exhibit similar processes and functions as biomolecular counterparts have been developed, and to date, some dramatic achievements have been obtained. Herein, the use of AMMs in smart systems and materials with controllable regulations and interesting functions are summarized, presenting the specific micro‐ to macroscale applications in solid surface modification, transmembrane transport, smart catalysts, liquid crystals, artificial molecular muscles, and stimuli‐responsive polymers. The challenges of developing novel complex AMMs with intelligent functions are discussed, and some potential solutions are proposed.

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Section: Macroscale Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Macroscale Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Driving Smart Molecular Systems by Artificial Molecular Machines

Shi

Zhang

Tian

et al. 2020

Advanced Intelligent Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…which enable multiple stimuli‐responses, [ 15–17 ] and are promising to be developed as sensors, soft robotics, artificial muscle and microfluidic systems. [ 18–24 ]…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, for soft actuators previously reported, limited morphology and single actuation extremely restrict them to execute multifunctions. [ 21–24 ] Therefore, developing soft actuators capable of reconfiguration into anticipant initial structural shape and reversible actuation by multi‐stimuli would increase potential applications, more importantly, also alleviate the restrictions in design and freedom of actuators. For shape reconfiguration, reversible reprocessing the same actuators into diverse shapes is generally achieved through dynamic crosslinking structures which can be thermally induced bond exchange and structurally reconstruct under external stress.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Reconfigurable Soft Actuators with Multiple‐Stimuli Responses

Zhao

Dou

Hou

et al. 2020

Macromol. Rapid Commun.

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Multiple‐stimuli responsive soft actuators with tunable initial shapes would have substantial potential in broad technological applications, ranging from advanced sensors, smart robots to biomedical devices. However, existing soft actuators are often limited to single initial shape and are unable to reversibly reconfigure into desirable shapes, which severely restricts the multifunctions that can be integrated into one actuator. Here, a novel reconfigurable supramolecular polymer/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bilayer actuator exhibiting multiple‐stimuli responses is presented. In this bilayer actuator, the supramolecular polymer layer constructed of poly(5‐Norbornene‐2‐carboxylic acid‐1,3‐cyclooctadiene) (PNCCO) and azopyridine derivative (PyAzoPy) via H‐bonds provides multiple‐stimuli responses: PyAzoPy offers light response and carboxylic groups in PNCCO endow the actuator with humidity response. Meanwhile thermoplastic PET layer enables the bilayer actuators to be reconfigured into various shapes by thermal stimuli. The rationally designed actuators exhibit versatile capabilities to reversibly reconfigure into a set of initial shapes and carry out multiple functions, such as photo‐driven “foldback‐clip” and Ω‐shaped crawling robots. In addition, bio‐inspired plants constructed by reconfiguration of such actuators demonstrate reversible multiple‐stimuli responses. It is anticipated that these novel actuators with highly tunable geometries and actuation modes would be useful to develop multifunctional devices capable of performing diverse tasks.

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“…These materials can be used as molecular switches [1][2][3] and fancy molecular motors [4], because the parent azobenzene exists in two isomeric forms, which can be interchanged using light of appropriate wavelength or heat [5]. The light responsive materials made of azopolymers are used in liquid crystalline technology [6][7][8][9] and as smart polymers for soft-robotics [10][11][12]. Some natural phenomena like fly trapping plants [13] and caterpillar-like crawling [14] can be mimicked by designing micro-robotic systems incorporating azobenzene chromophores.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling of Stripe Patterns in Photosensitive Azopolymers

2020

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Placed at interfaces, azobenzene-containing materials show extraordinary phenomena when subjected to external light sources. Here we model the surface changes induced by one-dimensional Gaussian light fields in thin azopolymer films. Such fields can be produced in a quickly moving film irradiated with a strongly focused laser beam or illuminating the sample through a cylindrical lens. To explain the appearance of stripe patterns, we first calculate the unbalanced mechanical stresses induced by one-dimensional Gaussian fields in the interior of the film. In accordance with our orientation approach, the light-induced stress originates from the reorientation of azobenzenes that causes orientation of rigid backbone segments along the light polarization. The resulting volume forces have different signs and amplitude for light polarization directed perpendicular and parallel to the moving direction. Accordingly, the grooves are produced by the stretching forces and elongated protrusions by the compressive forces. Implementation into a viscoplastic model in a finite element software predicts a considerably weaker effect for the light polarized along the moving direction, in accordance with the experimental observations. The maximum value in the distribution of light-induced stresses becomes in this case very close to the yield stress which results in smaller surface deformations of the glassy azopolymer.

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Mechanical adaptability of artificial muscles from nanoscale molecular action

Cited by 67 publications

References 47 publications

Driving Smart Molecular Systems by Artificial Molecular Machines

Driving Smart Molecular Systems by Artificial Molecular Machines

Reconfigurable Soft Actuators with Multiple‐Stimuli Responses

Modeling of Stripe Patterns in Photosensitive Azopolymers

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