A NIR-Light-Driven Twisted and Coiled Polymer Actuator with a PEDOT-Tos/Nylon-6 Composite for Durable and Remotely Controllable Artificial Muscle

Abstract

In this paper, we proposed a novel light-driven polymer actuator that could produce remotely controllable tensile stroke in response to near infrared (NIR) light. The light-driven polymer actuator was composed of a twisted and coiled nylon-6 fiber (TCN) and a thin poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with p-toluenesulfonate (PEDOT-Tos) layer. By adopting dip-coating methodology with thermal polymerization process, we constructed a thin and uniform PEDOT-Tos layer on the surface of the three-dimensional TCN structure. Thanks to the PEDOT-Tos layer with excellent NIR light absorption characteristic, the NIR light illumination via a small LEDs array allowed the multiple PEDOT-Tos coated TCN actuators to be photo-thermally heated to a fairly consistent temperature and to simultaneously produce a contractile strain that could be modulated as high as 8.7% with light power. The actuation performance was reversible without any significant hysteresis and highly durable during 3000 cyclic operations via repetitive control of the LEDs. Together with its simple structure and facile fabrication, the light-driven actuator can lead to technical advances in artificial muscles due to its attractive benefits from remote controllability without complex coupled instruments and electromagnetic interference.

Photothermal Thin Films with Highly Efficient NIR Conversion for Miniaturized Liquid-Crystal Elastomer Actuators

“…In recent years, photo-responsive materials, which convert light energy directly into mechanical work, have attracted significant attention because of their promising applications in light-driven mechanical actuation. Liquid-crystal elastomers (LCEs) have been demonstrated to be some of the most excellent materials for light-driven actuation [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. LCEs exhibit large and reversible deformations due to the liquid-crystal phase transition induced by heating and cooling cycles [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Synchronization of a Passive Oscillator and a Liquid Crystal Elastomer Self-Oscillator Powered by Steady Illumination

“…Under external stimuli such as light, electricity, heat, and magnetic field, liquid crystal monomer molecules change their arrangement, resulting in macro deformation [ 38 ]. For many self-excited oscillations based on LCE, researchers have done a lot of related experimental and theoretical work [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”