Soft
actuators that exhibit large deformation and can move at a
fast speed in response to external stimuli have been in high demand
for biomimetic applications. In this paper, we propose a convenient
approach to fabricate a reversible and thermal-responsive composite
hydrogel. Under the irradiation of visible light, the striped hydrogel
can bend at a speed of up to 65.72°/s with carbon nanotubes loaded
at a concentration of 3 mg/mL. A jellyfish-like miniature soft robot
is made using this hydrogel. When driven by visible light, the robot
can move at a maximum speed of 3.37 mm/s. Besides swimming, other
motion modes, including walking and jumping, are also achieved by
the robot. In addition, the robot can perform directional transportation
of tiny objects. As a new actuation approach for the research of jellyfish-like
miniature soft robots, this work is of great significance to the development
of flexible bionic robots. Moreover, this work also offers some important
insights into the research of biomimetic robots driven by visible
light.
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