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.
Highlights
Academic Editor: Ho-Hsiu ChouInspired by natural muscles that can deform in response to diverse stimuli for complex locomotion of organism with a lightweight and simple structure, soft actuators mimicking the capability of the natural muscles have been developed by using numerous kinds of functional polymers, such as shape memory polymers, twisted and coiled polymers, dielectric elastomers, hydrogels, liquid crystal polymers, and conducting polymers [1]
We report a novel study for fabrication, photo-thermal heating behavior, and light-driven actuation performance of the PEDOT-Tos coated twisted and coiled nylon-6 fiber (TCN) actuator (PT-TCNA), integrating with a small LEDs array
As a remotely controllable artificial muscle, we developed a novel light-driven PTTCNA integrated with a near infrared (NIR) LEDs array that can produce tensile stroke in response to light illuminating via LEDs
Summary
Inspired by natural muscles that can deform in response to diverse stimuli for complex locomotion of organism with a lightweight and simple structure, soft actuators mimicking the capability of the natural muscles have been developed by using numerous kinds of functional polymers, such as shape memory polymers, twisted and coiled polymers, dielectric elastomers, hydrogels, liquid crystal polymers, and conducting polymers [1]. Based on their distinctive design and actuation mechanism selectively responding to each external stimulus (heat [2,3], light [4–6], solvent [7,8], electric power [9,10], magnetism [11,12], and moisture [13]), the soft actuators have shown their potentials in realization of tensile, contractile, bending, and rotational deformation. We report a novel study for fabrication, photo-thermal heating behavior, and light-driven actuation performance of the PEDOT-Tos coated TCN actuator (PT-TCNA), integrating with a small LEDs array
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