Photoresponsive Soft‐Robotic Platform: Biomimetic Fabrication and Remote Actuation

Abstract

wileyonlinelibrary.comnanorods, [ 6,7 ] carbon nanotubes (CNTs), [ 8,9 ] graphene, [ 10,11 ] etc.), have been investigated and developed. Accompany with the development of stimulus-responsive materials, various types of external stimulus, including electric, [ 12,13 ] heat, [14][15][16] light, [ 17,18 ] magnetic, [19][20][21] chemical stimulus, [ 22 ] pneumatic stimulus, [ 23 ] and so forth, have been successfully employed to develop biomimetic or bio-inspired microrobotic systems applying in microjets, [ 16 ] microgrippers, [ 24,25 ] drilling of tissues, [ 26 ] drug and cell delivery, [ 27,28 ] fi xing cancer cells, [ 29 ] artifi cial muscles, [ 30 ] and some other smart microstructures.Because of their ability in wireless/ remote control, low noise, localized driven ability rather than whole-fi eld driven, [ 31 ] light-driven microrobots have attracted more and more attention in novel microbio-robots or micro-motors for biological use. For example, for the minimally invasive medicine applications, the microrobots must exhibit locomotion and controlled interaction with their environment, which should be able to reach a targeted area under the direct supervision and control of an external user. Due to its excellent penetration ability in biological tissues (can be over several centimeters [ 32 ] ), near infrared (nIR) light provides a promising approach to remotely actuate the microrobots in bodies, which may fi nd applications in the development of novel micro-bio-robots or biomimetic micro-motors in vivo and in vitro.Graphene, due to its excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, high surface area, and high fl exibility, has been employed to perform various actuation based on graphene polymeric nanocomposites, that is, stimulated by electrical, [ 33,34 ] electrochemical, [ 11,35 ] and optical energy. [ 10 ] Because of its photothermal effect and high thermal conductivity, graphene and its composites show promising photoresponsive properties. Panchapakesan [ 31 ] reported a large light-induced reversible and elastic response of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) polymer composites which is composited with GNPs and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and developed a two-axis submicrometer resolution positioning stage. Wu [ 36 ] developed a bimorph confi guration which was constituted with chemically modifi ed polye thylene (PE) fi lms and a mixture of large-area graphene-chitosan, behaving as a transparent soft actuator that expanded under nIR irradiation. Wang [ 37 ] developed light-driven hand-shape Biomimetic microsystems, which can be driven by various stimuli, are an emerging fi eld in micro/nano-technology and nano-medicine. In this study, a soft and fast-response robotic platform, constituted by PDMS/graphenenanoplatelets composited layer (PDMS/GNPs) and pristine PDMS layer, is presented. Due to the differences in coeffi cient of thermal expansion and Young's modulus of the two layers, the bilayer platform can be driven to bend to the PDMS/GNPs side by light irradiation. The robotic platform (1 mm in width and 7 m...

Directed Motility of Hygroresponsive Biomimetic Actuators

“…With photomechanical actuators that are capable of externally controllable mechanical motion in response to light, generally one of two approaches to external control of motility is adopted. [ 8,32 ] In the molecular approach, prolate-shaped photoreceptor molecules are linked to or embedded into a fl exible polymer or liquid-crystalline matrix as motion directors. [ 8 ] In the alternative, macroscopic approach, control over the deformation is exerted by introducing photoresponsive structural elements, for instance, macro/nanosized particles or rods with controllable distribution and/or relative orientation.…”

MRI-based communication for untethered intelligent medical microrobots

“…For instance, Eq. (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) shows the relationship between the total acquisition time, rBW and matrix size.…”

“…However, the great majority of the studies on microrobots for interventions in the human body focus on the actuation and control of the microrobots [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Potential applications of the microrobots can be considerably expanded by embedding an integrated circuit capable of sensing, processing, and communicating environmental variables (e.g., pH, O2).…”

Construction of a photothermal Venus flytrap from conductive polymer bimorphs

“…The required energy for the fish movement in this work (I o = 1.1 W, 2.94 W cm − 2 ) was less than that of the previously reported fish-like platforms made of soft materials (29.5 W cm − 2 ). 1 The PP-PEDOT/PDMS bimorphs showed large movement (410 cm) in water under a NIR laser (I o = 253 mW; Figure 4a). This is promising for applications in remote actuation.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] Among them, photothermal conversion has attracted increasing attention as a method for creating mechanical motion because of the opportunity for wireless control, low noise, programmability and spatial localization of the mechanical motion. [7][8][9][10] In particular, near-infrared (NIR) light can penetrate biological tissues to remotely actuate micro-robots inside bodies, which could lead to applications for micro-motors in vivo.…”