Development of Novel Programmable Stimuli-responsive Polymers for Small-scale Soft Robots

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The classical view of robots as bulky machines with rigid body and centralized brain has been shaken since the introduction of new generations of soft small-scale robots. Owing to their softness and size, such robots can perform a range of delicate tasks in tiny environments. Thus, they are expected to revolutionize healthcare by offering targeted and minimally invasive procedures such as drug delivery, cell manipulation, and biopsy. These robots are typically made of programmable stimuli-responsive polymers, which have embedded sensing and actuation capabilities, respond to external stimuli in programmable fashions, and can be miniaturized via different techniques. Today, the development of novel robotic materials and fabrication methods is one of the most pressing issues in small-scale robotics. Stimuli-responsive polymers are in significant demand in industries such as automotive, electronics, and biomedical technologies. They hold a booming share of the global market, with a compound annual growth rate of ~20%. Soft and small-scale robotics are the two fields largely relying on such polymers, with respective growth rates of ~40% and ~65%. Hence, it is extremely timely to consolidate Canada's global contribution to such emerging and highly competitive fields. In this research program, we aim to develop intelligent robotic materials that recapitulate the main features of organisms, such as softness, energy conversion, mobility, learning, and adaptation. Such materials are key to the development of highly sought-after autonomous robots. In the short term, we focus on the synthesis of novel programmable multi-stimuli-responsive polymers from liquid crystal networks (LCNs), and their miniaturization, molecular engineering, and shape-change programming using unconventional micro-additive manufacturing strategies. LCNs are chosen for their programmable and reversible response to various stimuli, such as heat and light, and proclivity for miniaturization. Despite their potential, LCNs have not yet realized a secure position in real-world applications due to challenges in the fabrication, actuation, and manipulation of LCN microrobots in confined flooded media. We will tackle these challenges by developing multi-stimuli-responsive composites of LCNs and magnetic nanoparticles, making multi-material microrobots with locally controlled properties, decoupling robotic locomotion from robotic functions, spatiotemporal control over parts of robots, and employing medically established technologies for their powering, navigation, and function to expand their applicability. Students trained in this program will benefit from unique multidisciplinary research making them experts in the field of smart polymers but with vast knowledge and experience in other disciplines like optics, microfabrication, robotics, control, and instrumentation. Such a training portfolio will put them in a strong position for research and leadership roles in industry and academia.