A Liquid Metal Artificial Muscle.

Journal: Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
PMID: 34510575

Abstract

Artificial muscles possess a vast potential in accelerating the development of robotics, exoskeletons, and prosthetics. Although a variety of emerging actuator technologies are reported, they suffer from several issues, such as high driving voltages, large hysteresis, and water intolerance. Here, a liquid metal artificial muscle (LMAM) is demonstrated, based on the electrochemically tunable interfacial tension of liquid metal to mimic the contraction and extension of muscles. The LMAM can work in different solutions with a wide range of pH (0-14), generating actuation strains of up to 87% at a maximum extension speed of 15 mm s . More importantly, the LMAM only needs a very low driving voltage of 0.5 V. The actuating components of the LMAM are completely built from liquids, which avoids mechanical fatigue and provides actuator linkages without mechanical constraints to movement. The LMAM is used for developing several proof-of-concept applications, including controlled displays, cargo deliveries, and reconfigurable optical reflectors. The simplicity, versatility, and efficiency of the LMAM are further demonstrated by using it to actuate the caudal fin of an untethered bionic robotic fish. The presented LMAM has the potential to extend the performance space of soft actuators for applications from engineering fields to biomedical applications.

Authors

  • Jian Shu
    Key Laboratory of Analysis and Detection for Food Safety (MOE and Fujian Province), Collaborative Innovation Center of Detection Technology for Haixi Food Safety and Products (Fujian Province), State Key Laboratory of Photocatalysis on Energy and Environment, Department of Chemistry, Fuzhou University , Fujian Province, China , 350002.
  • Du-An Ge
    CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027, China.
  • Erlong Wang
    CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027, China.
  • Hongtai Ren
    CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027, China.
  • Tim Cole
    Department of ElectronicElectrical and Systems Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
  • Shi-Yang Tang
    Department of ElectronicElectrical and Systems Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
  • Xiangpeng Li
    College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215000, China.
  • Xiangbo Zhou
    CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027, China.
  • Rongjie Li
    CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027, China.
  • Hu Jin
    Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People's Republic of China.
  • Weihua Li
    State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
  • Michael D Dickey
    Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-7905, USA.
  • Shiwu Zhang

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