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。硬件开发的下一个阶段将集中在实现模拟生物有机体的软材料上。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（用于监测人体健康）和可以在复杂环境中执行编程任务的自主系统。为了使这些应用成为现实，需要柔软、廉价、可弯曲和灵活的传感器和执行器（移动部件）。由刚性金属制成的传统电子和机器人部件不是一种选择。 聚合物表现出一些软机器人和电子产品所需的特性;它们柔软而灵活，它们的化学性质可以调整，并且可以使用各种技术进行加工。由生物来源生产的生物聚合物比油基材料更环保，并且它们可以是生物相容的和/或可降解的。 为了赋予聚合物和生物聚合物在软传感器和致动器中使用所需的功能，它们可以与纳米材料结合形成聚合物纳米复合材料。这些纳米材料具有独特的化学、光学和电子特性;其中一些特性对当地环境的变化高度敏感。 该研究计划的目的是开发能够感知周围环境变化并发生性能变化的材料。 有两个主要主题：（1）开发用于化学传感的刺激响应复合材料，以及（2）设计响应于光而经历形状可逆变化的材料。为了开发拟议的材料和设备，研究和控制这些材料的混合和图案化如何影响（1）聚合物中纳米颗粒的排列和（2）复合材料的最终性能（物理，化学和电子）至关重要。我将开发新的策略，将纳米颗粒特性的局部变化转化为可测量和可读的电信号和/或机械变形。我将继续设计技术和加工方法，在宏观尺度上对这些材料进行图案化，同时控制聚合物内颗粒的排列，我将把这些材料集成到设备中。将展示的功能器件在智能系统，软机器人和生物医学材料中有应用。 2名博士生，2名硕士生，1名博士后研究员和5名本科生将接受先进材料和制造技能的培训。他们将获得制造和分析技能，使用的工具都在我的实验室和阿尔伯塔纳米工厂的U。

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.