A chaotic self-oscillating sunlight-driven polymer actuator.
A chaotic self-oscillating sunlight-driven polymer actuator.
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DOI：
10.1038/ncomms11975
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发表时间：
2016-07-04
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Schenning AP
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kumar K;Knie C;Bléger D;Peletier MA;Friedrich H;Hecht S;Broer DJ;Debije MG;Schenning AP
大自然为设计能够在暴露于外部刺激时运动的材料提供了很多灵感，并且已经在实验室中创建了许多这种主动系统的例子。然而，要实现由不变、恒定的刺激驱动的连续运动已被证明极具挑战性。在这里，我们描述了一种液晶聚合物薄膜掺杂的可见光响应氟化偶氮苯能够连续混沌振荡运动时，暴露在空气中的环境阳光。同时存在的蓝色和绿色光的照明是必要的振荡行为发生，这表明连续向前和向后切换的动态引起观察到的效果。我们的工作是实现自主、持续自推进机器和由阳光驱动的自清洁表面的重要一步。 这是非常可取的，但具有挑战性的，以建立在干燥的环境中，可以进行自主振荡的致动器。在这里，Kumar等人在基于使用由邻氟偶氮苯掺杂的可响应于阳光的双折射液晶膜的软致动器中实现了这一目标。
Nature provides much inspiration for the design of materials capable of motion upon exposure to external stimuli, and many examples of such active systems have been created in the laboratory. However, to achieve continuous motion driven by an unchanging, constant stimulus has proven extremely challenging. Here we describe a liquid crystalline polymer film doped with a visible light responsive fluorinated azobenzene capable of continuous chaotic oscillatory motion when exposed to ambient sunlight in air. The presence of simultaneous illumination by blue and green light is necessary for the oscillating behaviour to occur, suggesting that the dynamics of continuous forward and backward switching are causing the observed effect. Our work constitutes an important step towards the realization of autonomous, persistently self-propelling machines and self-cleaning surfaces powered by sunlight. It is highly desirable, yet challenging to build actuators in a dry environment that can undergo autonomous oscillation. Here, Kumar et al. achieve this goal in a soft actuator based on the use of a nematic liquid crystal film doped by ortho-fluoroazobenzene that is responsive to sunlight.