Issue 17, 2024

Programming hierarchical anisotropy in microactuators for multimodal actuation

Abstract

Microactuators, capable of executing tasks typically repetitive, hazardous, or impossible for humans, hold great promise across fields such as precision medicine, environmental remediation, and swarm intelligence. However, intricate motions of microactuators normally require high complexity in design, making it increasingly challenging to realize at small scales using existing fabrication techniques. Taking inspiration from the hierarchical-anisotropy principle found in nature, we program liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) microactuators with multimodal actuation tailored to their molecular, shape, and architectural anisotropies at (sub)nanometer, micrometer, and (sub)millimeter scales, respectively. Our strategy enables diverse deformations with individual LCE microstructures, including expanding, contracting, twisting, bending, and unwinding, as well as re-programmable shape transformations of assembled LCE architectures with negative Poisson's ratios, locally adjustable actuation, and changing from two-dimensional (2D) to three-dimensional (3D) structures. Furthermore, we design tetrahedral microactuators with well-controlled mobility and precise manipulation of both solids and liquids in various environments. This study provides a paradigm shift in the development of microactuators, unlocking a vast array of complexities achievable through manipulation at each hierarchical level of anisotropy.

Graphical abstract: Programming hierarchical anisotropy in microactuators for multimodal actuation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 4 2024
Accepted
18 7 2024
First published
08 8 2024

Lab Chip, 2024,24, 4073-4084

Programming hierarchical anisotropy in microactuators for multimodal actuation

S. Wang, S. Li, W. Zhao, Y. Zhou, L. Wang, J. Aizenberg and P. Zhu, Lab Chip, 2024, 24, 4073 DOI: 10.1039/D4LC00369A

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