An Electrically Actuated Soft Artificial Muscle Based on a High-Performance Flexible Electrothermal Film and Liquid-Crystal Elastomer

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (50) ◽  
pp. 56338-56349
Author(s):  
Haoran Liu ◽  
Hongmiao Tian ◽  
Jinyou Shao ◽  
Zhijian Wang ◽  
Xiangming Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer ◽  
Electrically Actuated

scholarly journals Electrically controlled liquid crystal elastomer–based soft tubular actuator with multimodal actuation

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. eaax5746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiguang He ◽  
Zhijian Wang ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Adriane Minori ◽  
Michael T. Tolley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Electrical Potential ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Engineering Applications ◽  
Interior Space ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer ◽  
Facile Fabrication ◽  
Nonuniform Strain

Soft tubular actuators can be widely found both in nature and in engineering applications. The benefits of tubular actuators include (i) multiple actuation modes such as contraction, bending, and expansion; (ii) facile fabrication from a planar sheet; and (iii) a large interior space for accommodating additional components or for transporting fluids. Most recently developed soft tubular actuators are driven by pneumatics, hydraulics, or tendons. Each of these actuation modes has limitations including complex fabrication, integration, and nonuniform strain. Here, we design and construct soft tubular actuators using an emerging artificial muscle material that can be easily patterned with programmable strain: liquid crystal elastomer. Controlled by an externally applied electrical potential, the tubular actuator can exhibit multidirectional bending as well as large (~40%) homogenous contraction. Using multiple tubular actuators, we build a multifunctional soft gripper and an untethered soft robot.

Light-driven core-shell fiber actuator based on carbon nanotubes/liquid crystal elastomer for artificial muscle and phototropic locomotion

Carbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Yu ◽  
Lele Li ◽  
Enping Liu ◽  
Xue Han ◽  
Juanjuan Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Core Shell ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer

scholarly journals Monolithic shape-programmable dielectric liquid crystal elastomer actuators

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. eaay0855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoey S. Davidson ◽  
Hamed Shahsavan ◽  
Amirreza Aghakhani ◽  
Yubing Guo ◽  
Lindsey Hines ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Elastic Anisotropy ◽  
Active Material ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers ◽  
Soft Actuators

Soft robotics may enable many new technologies in which humans and robots physically interact, yet the necessary high-performance soft actuators still do not exist. The optimal soft actuators need to be fast and forceful and have programmable shape changes. Furthermore, they should be energy efficient for untethered applications and easy to fabricate. Here, we combine desirable characteristics from two distinct active material systems: fast and highly efficient actuation from dielectric elastomers and directed shape programmability from liquid crystal elastomers. Via a top-down photoalignment method, we program molecular alignment and localized giant elastic anisotropy into the liquid crystal elastomers. The linearly actuated liquid crystal elastomer monoliths achieve strain rates over 120% per second with an energy conversion efficiency of 20% while moving loads over 700 times the elastomer weight. The electric actuation mechanism offers unprecedented opportunities toward miniaturization with shape programmability, efficiency, and more degrees of freedom for applications in soft robotics and beyond.

Carbon coated liquid crystal elastomer film for artificial muscle applications

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 184-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devanand K. Shenoy ◽  
D. Laurence Thomsen III ◽  
Amritha Srinivasan ◽  
Patrick Keller ◽  
Banahalli R. Ratna
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer ◽  
Carbon Coated

Liquid crystal elastomer for artificial muscle applications

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jawad W. Naciri ◽  
Amritha Srinivasan ◽  
Banahalli R. Ratna
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer

Polydopamine-Coated Main-Chain Liquid Crystal Elastomer as Optically Driven Artificial Muscle

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 8307-8316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongmiao Tian ◽  
Zhijian Wang ◽  
Yilong Chen ◽  
Jinyou Shao ◽  
Tong Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Main Chain ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer

Modeling of photo-responsive liquid crystal elastomer actuators

2021 ◽  
Vol 560 ◽  
pp. 441-455
Author(s):  
Jundong Wu ◽  
Wenjun Ye ◽  
Yawu Wang ◽  
Chun-Yi Su
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer

Spontaneous photo-buckling of a liquid crystal elastomer membrane

2021 ◽  
pp. 106473
Author(s):  
Xiao Liu ◽  
Ying Liu
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer
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