A new class of single-material, non-reciprocal microactuators
Maslen, Charlie and Gholamipour-Shirazi, Azarmidokht and Butler, Matthew D. and Kropacek, Jindrich and Rehor, Ivan and Montenegro-Johnson, Thomas (2023) A new class of single-material, non-reciprocal microactuators. Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 44 (6). p. 2200842. ISSN 1022-1336 (https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.202200842)
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Abstract
A crucial component in designing soft actuating structures with controllable shape changes is programming internal, mismatching stresses. In this work, a new paradigm for achieving anisotropic dynamics between isotropic end-states—yielding a non-reciprocal shrinking/swelling response over a full actuation cycle—in a microscale actuator made of a single material, purely through microscale design is demonstrated. Anisotropic dynamics is achieved by incorporating micro-sized pores into certain segments of the structures; by arranging porous and non-porous segments (specifically, struts) into a 2D hexagonally-shaped microscopic poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) hydrogel particle, the rate of isotropic shrinking/swelling in the structure is locally modulated, generating global anisotropic, non-reciprocal, dynamics. A simple mathematical model is introduced that reveals the physics that underlies these dynamics. This design has the potential to be used as a foundational tool for inducing non-reciprocal actuation cycles with a single material structure, and enables new possibilities in producing customized soft actuators and modular anisotropic metamaterials for a range of real-world applications, such as artificial cilia.
ORCID iDs
Maslen, Charlie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2995-0918, Gholamipour-Shirazi, Azarmidokht, Butler, Matthew D., Kropacek, Jindrich, Rehor, Ivan and Montenegro-Johnson, Thomas;-
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Item type: Article ID code: 89686 Dates: DateEvent20 March 2023Published14 December 2022Published Online14 December 2022AcceptedSubjects: Science > Chemistry Department: Faculty of Science > Pure and Applied Chemistry Depositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 21 Jun 2024 11:45 Last modified: 26 Sep 2024 13:13 URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/89686