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Surface-Controlled Molecular Self-Alignment in Polymer Actuators for Flexible Microrobot Applications

Polymer actuators are important components in lab-on-a-chip and micromechanical systems because of the inherent properties that result from their large and fast mechanical responses induced by molecular-level deformations (e.g., isomerization). They typically exhibit bending movements via asymmetric...

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Autores principales: Jang, Minsu, Kim, Jun Sik, Kim, Ji-Hun, Bae, Do Hyun, Kim, Min Jun, Son, Donghee, Kim, Yong-Tae, Um, Soong Ho, Kim, Yong Ho, Kim, Jinseok
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6523470/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31018560
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym11040736
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author Jang, Minsu
Kim, Jun Sik
Kim, Ji-Hun
Bae, Do Hyun
Kim, Min Jun
Son, Donghee
Kim, Yong-Tae
Um, Soong Ho
Kim, Yong Ho
Kim, Jinseok
author_facet Jang, Minsu
Kim, Jun Sik
Kim, Ji-Hun
Bae, Do Hyun
Kim, Min Jun
Son, Donghee
Kim, Yong-Tae
Um, Soong Ho
Kim, Yong Ho
Kim, Jinseok
author_sort Jang, Minsu
collection PubMed
description Polymer actuators are important components in lab-on-a-chip and micromechanical systems because of the inherent properties that result from their large and fast mechanical responses induced by molecular-level deformations (e.g., isomerization). They typically exhibit bending movements via asymmetric contraction or expansion with respect to changes in environmental conditions. To enhance the mechanical properties of actuators, a strain gradient should be introduced by regulating the molecular alignment; however, the miniaturization of polymer actuators for microscale systems has raised concerns regarding the complexity of such molecular control. Herein, a novel method for the fabrication of micro-actuators using a simple molecular self-alignment method is presented. Amphiphilic molecules that consist of azobenzene mesogens were located between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces, which resulted in a splayed alignment. Thereafter, molecular isomerization on the surface induced a large strain gradient and bending movement of the actuator under ultraviolet-light irradiation. Moreover, the microelectromechanical systems allowed for the variation of the actuator size below the micron scale. The mechanical properties of the fabricated actuators such as the bending direction, maximum angle, and response time were evaluated with respect to their thicknesses and lengths. The derivatives of the polymer actuator microstructure may contribute to the development of novel applications in the micro-robotics field.
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spelling pubmed-65234702019-06-03 Surface-Controlled Molecular Self-Alignment in Polymer Actuators for Flexible Microrobot Applications Jang, Minsu Kim, Jun Sik Kim, Ji-Hun Bae, Do Hyun Kim, Min Jun Son, Donghee Kim, Yong-Tae Um, Soong Ho Kim, Yong Ho Kim, Jinseok Polymers (Basel) Article Polymer actuators are important components in lab-on-a-chip and micromechanical systems because of the inherent properties that result from their large and fast mechanical responses induced by molecular-level deformations (e.g., isomerization). They typically exhibit bending movements via asymmetric contraction or expansion with respect to changes in environmental conditions. To enhance the mechanical properties of actuators, a strain gradient should be introduced by regulating the molecular alignment; however, the miniaturization of polymer actuators for microscale systems has raised concerns regarding the complexity of such molecular control. Herein, a novel method for the fabrication of micro-actuators using a simple molecular self-alignment method is presented. Amphiphilic molecules that consist of azobenzene mesogens were located between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces, which resulted in a splayed alignment. Thereafter, molecular isomerization on the surface induced a large strain gradient and bending movement of the actuator under ultraviolet-light irradiation. Moreover, the microelectromechanical systems allowed for the variation of the actuator size below the micron scale. The mechanical properties of the fabricated actuators such as the bending direction, maximum angle, and response time were evaluated with respect to their thicknesses and lengths. The derivatives of the polymer actuator microstructure may contribute to the development of novel applications in the micro-robotics field. MDPI 2019-04-23 /pmc/articles/PMC6523470/ /pubmed/31018560 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym11040736 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Jang, Minsu
Kim, Jun Sik
Kim, Ji-Hun
Bae, Do Hyun
Kim, Min Jun
Son, Donghee
Kim, Yong-Tae
Um, Soong Ho
Kim, Yong Ho
Kim, Jinseok
Surface-Controlled Molecular Self-Alignment in Polymer Actuators for Flexible Microrobot Applications
title Surface-Controlled Molecular Self-Alignment in Polymer Actuators for Flexible Microrobot Applications
title_full Surface-Controlled Molecular Self-Alignment in Polymer Actuators for Flexible Microrobot Applications
title_fullStr Surface-Controlled Molecular Self-Alignment in Polymer Actuators for Flexible Microrobot Applications
title_full_unstemmed Surface-Controlled Molecular Self-Alignment in Polymer Actuators for Flexible Microrobot Applications
title_short Surface-Controlled Molecular Self-Alignment in Polymer Actuators for Flexible Microrobot Applications
title_sort surface-controlled molecular self-alignment in polymer actuators for flexible microrobot applications
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6523470/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31018560
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym11040736
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