Magneto-Photochemically Responsive Liquid Crystal Elastomer for Underwater Actuation
The quest for small-scale, remotely controlled soft robots has led to the exploration of magnetic and optical fields for inducing shape morphing in soft materials. Magnetic stimulus excels when navigation in confined or optically opaque environments is required. Optical stimulus, in turn, boasts superior spatial precision and individual control over multiple objects. Herein, we bring these two methodologies together and present a monolithic liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) system that synergistically combines magnetic and photochemical actuation schemes. The resultant composite material showcases versatile possibilities for underwater actuation, and we demonstrate robotic functionalities where the optical and magnetic response can be leveraged in different tasks (object gripping and object translocation, respectively) or where light can be used as a control signal to tune the magnetically induced actuation. Combining these two remote actuation methods offers powerful, dual-mode control in wireless, small-scale robotics, especially in submersed environments due to their isothermal nature.
Authors
- Fereshteh Sohrabi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0270-9403)
- Jaakko V. I. Timonen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5499-1482)
- Arri Priimägi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5945-9671)
- Yasaman Nemati
- Carlos Sánchez‐Somolinos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3900-2866)
- Hao Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9150-214X)
- Mari Honkanen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1285-3564)
- Qi Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2067-3195)
Institutions
- Qingdao University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Tampere University (FI)
- Universidad de Zaragoza (ES)
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
- Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (ES)
- Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (ES)
- Aalto University (FI)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Published
- 2025-01-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c14704
- Citations
- 16
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Materials and Mechanics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 11.41
Funders
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- European Commission
- Academy of Finland
- Aalto-Yliopisto
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva
- China Scholarship Council
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina
- Universidad de Zaragoza
- Gobierno de Aragón
- Qingdao University
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- European Social Fund
- H2020 European Research Council
- H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions