Robust, Healable, Self-Locomotive Integrated Robots Enabled by Noncovalent Assembled Gradient Nanostructure.

Integration, being lightweight, and intelligence are important orientations for the future advancement of soft robots. However, existing soft robots are generally hydrogels or silicone rubber, which are inherently mechanically inferior and easily damaged and difficult to integrate functions. Here, inspired by nacre, an elastomer actuator with sulfonated graphene-based gradient nanostructures is constructed via supramolecular multiscale assembly. The resulting nanocomposite possesses an ultrahigh toughness of 141.19 MJ/m3 and high room-temperature self-healing efficiency (89%). The proof-of-concept robot is demonstrated to emphasize its maximum swimming speed of 2.67 body length per second, whose speed is comparable to that of plankton, representing the outperformance of most artificial soft robots. Furthermore, the robot can stably absorb pollutants and recover its robustness and functionality even when damaged. This study breaks the mutual exclusivity of functional execution and fast locomotions, and we anticipate that our nanostructural design will offer an effective extended path to other integrated robots that required multifunction integration.

Construction of a Three-Dimensional BaTiO3 Network for Enhanced Permittivity and Energy Storage of PVDF Composites.

Three-dimensional BaTiO3 (3D BT)/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite dielectrics were fabricated by inversely introducing PVDF solution into a continuous 3D BT network, which was simply constructed via the sol-gel method using a cleanroom wiper as a template. The effect of the 3D BT microstructure and content on the dielectric and energy storage properties of the composites were explored. The results showed that 3D BT with a well-connected continuous network and moderate grain sizes could be easily obtained by calcining a barium source containing a wiper template at 1100 °C for 3 h. The as-fabricated 3D BT/PVDF composites with 21.1 wt% content of 3D BT (3DBT-2) exhibited the best comprehensive dielectric and energy storage performances. An enhanced dielectric constant of 25.3 at 100 Hz, which was 2.8 times higher than that of pure PVDF and 1.4 times superior to the conventional nano-BT/PVDF 25 wt% system, was achieved in addition with a low dielectric loss of 0.057 and a moderate dielectric breakdown strength of 73.8 kV·mm-1. In addition, the composite of 3DBT-2 exhibited the highest discharge energy density of 1.6 × 10-3 J·cm-3 under 3 kV·mm-1, which was nearly 4.5 times higher than that of neat PVDF.

Dynamic Mechanical Response and Damage Mechanism of HTPB Propellant under Impact Loading.

The dynamic mechanical behaviors of Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) propellant was studied by a split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus (SHPB) at strain rates ranging from 103 to 104 s-1. The obtained stress-strain curves indicated that the mechanical features, such as ultimate stress and strain energy, were strongly dependent on the strain rate. The real time deformation and fracture evolution of HTPB propellant were captured by a high-speed digital camera accompanied with an SHPB setup. Furthermore, microscopic observation for the post-test specimen was conducted to explore the different damage mechanisms under various conditions of impact loading. The dominated damage characteristics of HTPB propellant were changed from debonding and matrix tearing to multiple cracking modes of ammonium perchlorate (AP) particles, along with the increase of the strain rate. For the first time, the influence of AP particle density on the dynamic response of HTPB propellant was studied by analyzing the strain-rate sensitivity (SRS) index of HTPB propellant with two different filler content (80 wt.% and 85 wt.%), which deduced from a power function of ultimate stress and strain energy density. The result of this study is of significance for evaluating the structural integrity and security of HTPB propellant.