Liquid crystal elastomer actuator with serpentine locomotion

Chem Commun (Camb). 2020 Jul 14;56(55):7597-7600. doi: 10.1039/d0cc02823a. Epub 2020 Jun 9.

Abstract

A snake-mimic soft actuator composed of a bilayered liquid crystal elastomer ribbon and two serrated feet is reported in this work. Under repeated on/off near-infrared light irradiation, this actuator can move forward relying on a reversible shape morphing between S-curve structure and reverse S-curve structure, which is similar to the serpentine locomotion of snakes.