Issue 10, 2024

Principles and methods of liquid metal actuators

Abstract

As a promising material, liquid metals (LMs) have gained considerable interest in the field of soft robotics due to their ability to move as designed routines or change their shape dramatically under external stimuli. Inspired by the science fiction film Terminator, tremendous efforts have been devoted to liquid robots with high compliance and intelligence. How to manipulate LM droplets is crucial to achieving this goal. Accordingly, this review is dedicated to presenting the principles driving LMs and summarizing the potential methods to develop LM actuators of high maneuverability. Moreover, the recent progress of LM robots based on these methods is overviewed. The challenges and prospects of implementing autonomous robots have been proposed.

Graphical abstract: Principles and methods of liquid metal actuators

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
28 dec 2023
Accepted
06 feb 2024
First published
07 feb 2024

Soft Matter, 2024,20, 2196-2211

Principles and methods of liquid metal actuators

J. Ye, W. Xiang, C. Cheng, W. Bao and Q. Zhang, Soft Matter, 2024, 20, 2196 DOI: 10.1039/D3SM01756G

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