IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms11975.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A chaotic self-oscillating sunlight-driven polymer actuator

Author

Listed:
  • Kamlesh Kumar

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Christopher Knie

    (Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Strasse 2)

  • David Bléger

    (Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Strasse 2)

  • Mark A. Peletier

    (Eindhoven University of Technology
    Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Heiner Friedrich

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Stefan Hecht

    (Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Strasse 2)

  • Dirk J. Broer

    (Eindhoven University of Technology
    Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Michael G. Debije

    (Eindhoven University of Technology)

  • Albertus P. H. J. Schenning

    (Eindhoven University of Technology
    Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology)

Abstract

Nature provides much inspiration for the design of materials capable of motion upon exposure to external stimuli, and many examples of such active systems have been created in the laboratory. However, to achieve continuous motion driven by an unchanging, constant stimulus has proven extremely challenging. Here we describe a liquid crystalline polymer film doped with a visible light responsive fluorinated azobenzene capable of continuous chaotic oscillatory motion when exposed to ambient sunlight in air. The presence of simultaneous illumination by blue and green light is necessary for the oscillating behaviour to occur, suggesting that the dynamics of continuous forward and backward switching are causing the observed effect. Our work constitutes an important step towards the realization of autonomous, persistently self-propelling machines and self-cleaning surfaces powered by sunlight.

Suggested Citation

  • Kamlesh Kumar & Christopher Knie & David Bléger & Mark A. Peletier & Heiner Friedrich & Stefan Hecht & Dirk J. Broer & Michael G. Debije & Albertus P. H. J. Schenning, 2016. "A chaotic self-oscillating sunlight-driven polymer actuator," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11975
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11975
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11975
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms11975?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jingjing Li & Linlin Mou & Zunfeng Liu & Xiang Zhou & Yongsheng Chen, 2022. "Oscillating light engine realized by photothermal solvent evaporation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Yeongju Jung & Kangkyu Kwon & Jinwoo Lee & Seung Hwan Ko, 2024. "Untethered soft actuators for soft standalone robotics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Cheng, Quanbao & Zhou, Lin & Du, Changshen & Li, Kai, 2022. "A light-fueled self-oscillating liquid crystal elastomer balloon with self-shading effect," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    4. Wu, Haiyang & Lou, Jiangfeng & Dai, Yuntong & Zhang, Biao & Li, Kai, 2024. "Bifurcation analysis in liquid crystal elastomer spring self-oscillators under linear light fields," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11975. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.