Title: Light-Driven Soft Actuators Based on Photoresponsive Polymer Materials

Author: Wei Wang, Xiaozhen Wang, Futao Cheng, Yanlei Yu*, Yutian Zhu*

Journal: Progress in Chemistry, 2011, 23(6), 1165-1173

Abstract:

Photoresponsive polymeric materials are a kind of functional polymers that can absorb photo energy and undergo intra- or inter-molecular physical or chemical transformations. Accompanying the changes on molecular structures and configurations, the materials exhibit the variations on certain macroscopic properties such as shape, color, or refractive index in response to light. Since light is an environment-friendly, remotely controllable and instantly operatable stimulus, photoresponsive polymers attract more and more attention. By rational design, photoresponsive polymers can generate light-driven deformations or have shape-memory properties, thus they have been led to undergo sophisticated movements such as contraction/expansion, bending, creeping, and rotation and further assembled to various smart soft actuators, which have wide applications in artificial muscles, microrobots, micropumps, microvalves and so on. This article summarizes the recent progress of light-driven soft actuators made of photoresponsive liquid crystal polymers, gels, and shape-memory polymers. Their driven mechanism and development prospect are also described.

Fulltext Link: http://manu56.magtech.com.cn/progchem/CN/Y2011/V23/I6/1165