Bio‐Inspired Artificial Muscle‐Tendon Complex of Liquid Crystal Elastomer for Bidirectional Afferent‐Efferent Signaling (Adv. Mater. 2/2026)
Bio-Inspired Artificial Muscles In their Research Article (DOI: 10.1002/adma.202503094), Shengqiang Cai, Yong-Lae Park, and co-workers report a bio-inspired artificial muscle–tendon complex (MTC) based on liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) with embedded liquid-metal channels, illustrated as an artificial actuator connected to biological muscle in the image. The MTC integrates both actuation and proprioceptive sensing within a single structure, enabling simultaneous efferent actuation and afferent feedback. Mimicking natural musculature through an antagonistic arrangement, the system achieves closed-loop bidirectional control, demonstrated in robotic finger and gripper applications.
Authors
- JiYeon Cho
- T.H. Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2932-9251)
- Howon Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5509-9202)
- Shenyuan Cai
- Minhee Lee
- Yong‐Lae Park
- Yang Wang
Institutions
- Seoul National University (KR)
- University of California San Diego (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2026-01-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.71898
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Materials and Mechanics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00