NIR-II light-encoded 4D-printed magnetic shape memory composite for real-time reprogrammable soft actuator

Shushu Miao, Yue Xing*, Xu Li, Bing Sun, Zheyuan Du, Hongshuo Cao, Pengfei Guo, Yincheng Chang, Yanhong Tian, Minghui Yao, Ke Chen, Dengbao Xiao, Xuejun Zhang, Biao Zhao, Kai Pan, Jiangman Sun, Xiubing Liang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

For the intelligent 4D-printed actuators, the excellent performance, including quickly reversible spatial-shape transformation and locking, digital and precise shape manipulation in real-time, and remote actuation in special spaces or harsh environments, is significantly desirable but still challenging. Here, using a UV-curable system containing the shape memory polymer (SMP) and NdFeB particles, namely the magSMP composite, we fabricate a real-time reprogrammable soft actuator via high-resolution Digital Light Processing (DLP)-based 4D printing. The printed structure is composed of an array of physical binary magSMP composite elements (m-bits), analogous to digital bits. Owing to the NdFeB's photothermal effect, each m-bit can be independently and reversibly switched between unlocking or locking states (allowing or prohibiting responsive shape-morphing) in response to the on/off state of NIR-II light. Through projecting NIR-II light patterns for encoding a set of binary instructions onto 4D-printed actuators, the real-time light-programmed deformations are induced precisely under an actuation magnetic field due to the NdFeB's huge coercivity. Thus, the synergistic magnetic and light field-manipulated multimodal deformations of actuators, including mimosa shape changing, grasping, and wire guiding, are achieved. This study shines lights on the fabrication of soft structures of arbitrary sizes and provides their future perspectives in soft robot design.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102413
JournalApplied Materials Today
Volume40
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2024

Keywords

  • DLP-based 4D-printing
  • NIR-II light encoding
  • Real-time reprogrammable actuation
  • Soft actuators
  • Synergistic field manipulation

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