All-polymer based polymorph skin with controllable surface texture. (21st May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bolson, Natanael; Singh, Devendra; Lube, Vinicius; Lubineau, Gilles
• Is Part Of: Smart materials and structures. Volume 28:Number 7(2019:Jul.)
• Publication Date: 2019-05-21
• Subjects: flexible electronics -- controllable texture -- conducting polymer -- drag -- e-skin; Smart materials -- Periodicals; Strucural design -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-665X/ab1c01
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-1726

Abstract

Abstract: Smart skins are integrating an increasing number of functionalities to improve the interactions between the equipped systems (robots or artificial systems) and their ambient environment. Here, we introduce a controllable texture as a new functionality, based on an innovative soft technology that leverages the strong electro-mechanical coupling of our all-polymer design, which can be easily embedded to a wide range of systems. The device comprises a polymer-based heating element [doped PEDOT:PSS (poly-(3, 4 ethylenedioxythiophene): poly (styrene sulfonic acid))], a polymer-based soft actuator (Ecoflex 00–50/ethanol) and a polymer-based casing [PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane)]. We introduce a smart pipe prototype module and use our controllable polymorph skin to tailor the interaction between the pipe and the fluid. This allows us to obtain a 50% reduction of the friction coefficient in turbulent regime, between non-actuated and actuated configurations. This concept may find applications in engineering fields such as smart skin-based touch control and controllable friction coefficients.