Stimuli-Responsive Composites for Advanced Sensors and Actuators

在过去的25年里，机器人领域取得了令人难以置信的进步，对制造业、太空探索和医疗康复等学科产生了影响。硬件开发的下一阶段将专注于实现模仿生物有机体的软材料。具有感知和响应环境能力的软材料正在越来越多地取代各种机器人设备中的传统材料。除了软机器人，这些系统的应用还包括可穿戴电子设备（监测人体健康）和可以在复杂环境中执行编程任务的自主系统。为了实现这些应用，需要柔软、廉价、可弯曲和灵活的传感器和执行器（活动部件）。传统的电子和机器人部件是由坚硬的金属制成的，这不是一个选择。

Over the last 25 years, the field of robotics has made incredible strides, with impact in disciplines including manufacturing, space exploration, and medical rehabilitation. The next phase in hardware development is focused on implementing soft' materials that mimic biological organisms. Soft materials with the ability to both sense and respond to their environments are increasingly replacing conventional materials in a variety of robotic devices. Beyond soft robotics, applications of these systems include wearable electronic devices (to monitor human health) and autonomous systems that can perform programmed tasks in complex environments. To bring these applications to life, soft, inexpensive, bendable and flexible sensors and actuators (moving parts) are needed. Conventional electronic and robotic components which are made of rigid metals are not an option. Polymers exhibit some desirable features for soft robotics and electronics; they are soft and flexible, their chemical properties can be tuned, and they can be processed using a variety of techniques. Biopolymers which are produced from biological sources are more environmentally-friendly than oil-based materials, and they can be biocompatible and/or degradable. To bestow polymers and biopolymers with the functionality needed for use in soft sensors and actuators, they can be combined with nanomaterials to form polymer nanocomposites. These nanomaterials have unique chemical, optical, and electronic properties; some of these properties are highly sensitive to changes in the local environments. The purpose of this research program is to develop materials that can sense changes in their surroundings and undergo changes in properties. There are two main themes: (1) to develop stimuli-responsive composites for chemical sensing, and (2) to engineer materials that undergo a reversible change in shape in response to light. To develop the proposed materials and devices, it is critical to study and control how mixing and patterning these materials affects (1) the arrangement of nanoparticles in the polymer and (2) the resulting properties (physical, chemical, and electronic) of the composite. I will develop novel strategies to translate local changes in nanoparticle properties into measurable and readable electrical signals and/or mechanical deformation. I will continue to design techniques and processing methods to pattern these materials on the macroscale while controlling the arrangement of the particles within the polymer, and I will integrate these materials in devices. The functional devices that will be demonstrated have applications in intelligent systems, soft robotics, and biomedical materials. 2 PhD students, 2 MSc students, 1 postdoctoral fellow and 5 undergraduate students will be trained with skills in advanced materials and manufacturing. They will gain fabrication and analysis skills using the tools both in my lab and at the U of Alberta Nanofabrication Facility.