Solar vaporization has received tremendous attention for its potential in desalination, sterilization, distillation, etc. However, a few major roadblocks toward practical application are the high cost, process intensive, fragility of solar absorber materials, and low efficiency. Herein an inexpensive cellular carbon sponge that has a broadband light absorption and inbuilt structural features to perform solitary heat localization for in situ photothermic vaporization is reported. The defining advantages of elastic cellular porous sponge are that it self‐confines water to the perpetually hot spots and accommodates cyclical dynamic fluid flow‐volume variable stress for practical usage. By isolating from bulk water, the solar‐to‐vapor conversion efficiency is increased by 2.5‐fold, surpassing that of conventional bulk heating. Notably, complementary solar steam generation‐induced electricity can be harvested during the solar vaporization so as to capitalize on waste heat. Such solar distillation and waste heat‐to‐electricity generation functions may provide potential opportunities for on‐site electricity and fresh water production for remote areas/emergency needs.
Hydrogels are promising starting materials for biomimetic soft robots as they are intrinsically soft and hold properties analogous to nature’s organic parts. However, the restrictive mold-casting and post-assembly fabrication alongside mechanical fragility impedes the development of hydrogel-based soft robots. Herein, we harness biocompatible alginate as a rheological modifier to manufacture 3D freeform architectures of both chemically and physically cross-linked hydrogels using the direct-ink-write (DIW) printing. The intrinsically hydrophilic polymer network of alginate allows the preservation of the targeted functions of the host hydrogels, accompanied by enhanced mechanical toughness. The integration of free structures and available functionalities from diversified hydrogel family renders an enriched design platform for bioinspired fluidic and stimulus-activated robotic prototypes from an artificial mobile tentacle, a bioengineered robotic heart with beating–transporting functions, and an artificial tendril with phototropic motion. The design strategy expands the capabilities of hydrogels in realizing geometrical versatility, mechanical tunability, and actuation complexity for biocompatible soft robots.
to physical cues. [4,5] Mimicking such intelligent responses in artificial systems is a long-standing challenge that requires the integration of stimulus-responsive motility and perception feedback in a robotic body. [6] To date, the mainstream efforts on robot intelligence have been made in programmable control of rigid bodies that rely on individual computational modeling and electric actuation to achieve specific prescribed robot actions, [7] while the complex computing systems, power sources, and electrical motors restrict the robot body from size miniaturization and high-level of motion adaptivity. The realization of intelligent response in a miniature robot requires new design strategies capable of providing tightly coupled actuation and sensing mechanisms, and body compliance.Soft robotics is an emerging field that strives to bridge the gap between robots and biological living organisms. [8] Unlike conventional hard machines, soft robots are comprised of structures that continuously response, deform and morph in efforts to autonomously adapt to surroundings, manipulate objects, and execute dexterous maneuvers. [9] Without doubt, the stimulus responsiveness and multifunctionalities of active soft matter have opened up opportunities for diverse designs of actuation strategies [10][11][12][13][14][15] (including light, heat, humidity, electrical, pneumatic, and magnetic actuation) and sensing schemes [16][17][18][19][20] (such as resistive, capacitive, and self-powered sensing). Synchronous motility and multisensory perception in one compact system, especially when the robot size is down to centimeter scale, still proves a particular fabrication challenge. [21] So far, limited embodiments based on a single mode of sensory feedback mechanism have been achieved, [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] such as ionic capacitive sensors embedded in a pneumatic actuator, [23] liquid metal strain sensors integrated in a soft gripper, [30] and piezoresistive strain feedback in artificial muscles. [26] And few attempts at integrating multifunctional sensing schemes [31,32] have revealed inherent limitations in multiple connection terminals, complex electric power inputs, and complicated fabrication processes, where trade-offs between the actuation/shape adaptivity and sensing capability is unavoidable.Here, we overcome these challenges using an integral thinfilm construct to demonstrate fabrication of customizable, Living organisms are capable of sensing and responding to their environment through reflex-driven pathways. The grand challenge for mimicking such natural intelligence in miniature robots lies in achieving highly integrated body functionality, actuation, and sensing mechanisms. Here, somatosensory light-driven robots (SLiRs) based on a smart thin-film composite tightly integrating actuation and multisensing are presented. The SLiR subsumes pyro/piezoelectric responses and piezoresistive strain sensation under a photoactuator transducer, enabling simultaneous yet non-interfering perception of its body temperature a...
operation. Seemingly, the intermittency issue can be circumvented, by alternatively intercepting and capturing of solar thermal energy fluxes. Moreover, low grade solar thermal harvesting has attracted significant interest because of its versatility in numerous applications such as steam generation, [1][2][3][4][5] photo/electrocatalysis, [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] energy harvesters, [13][14][15][16][17] and actuators. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Also, harvesting of ubiquitous low grade waste heat is presently perceived as a promising energy source toward decarbonized and sustainable ecology.Thermoelectric generator and pyroelectric generator, which can convert thermal energy directly into electricity, are the two particularly attractive ways for solar heat utilization, ascribing to their merits, that is, simple structure, no moving parts and devoid of mechanical deformation. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Thermoelectric generator harvests energy via the Seebeck effect triggered by static temperature differences, while the pyroelectric generator delivers through the change of spontaneous polarization in response to dynamic temperature fluctuations. However, most conventional thermoelectric generators are based on high-cost and complicated fabrication of solid-state semiconducting materials constricted by physical limitations and rarely, if ever, attempts have been made to hybrid with other types of thermal energy generator. As an alternative to thermoelectric modules, thermocell (also known as thermogalvanic cell) that utilizes the temperature-dependent entropy changes during electron transfer between redox couples and electrodes is a promising method to convert thermal energy to electricity, with the virtues of relatively high Seebeck coefficient, inexpensive and simple fabrication process. [32][33][34][35] Besides, solar thermal effect induced by an unstructured outdoor environment is inevitably accompanied by thermal fluctuations caused by ever-changing weather condition. Such thermal variance has dramatically impeded some thermal devices to reach their maximum attainable performance. Hence, a judicious design and integration of thermogalvanic and pyroelectric generator can critically underpin effective utilization of solar thermal resource by harvesting energy from static temperature difference derived from a constant solar exposure as well as dynamic temperature fluctuations arising from sporadic ambience.Harvesting of prevalent low grade solar heat from otherwise wasted energy has received tremendous attention. However, extensive and continuous conversion remains challenging due to distributed nature of heat, limited temperature difference with the surroundings, ambient solar heat fluctuation, and night time period of darkness. Herein, a hybrid thermogalvanic and pyroelectric generator for multisituation structured/unstructured, static/dynamic, and day/night waste heat harnessing for continuous operation is reported. Powered by versatile thermal energy harvesting strategies, the hybrid photothermal generator i...
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