Wireless Dual Stimuli Actuation of Dye Sensitized Conducting Polymer Hybrids. (23rd March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Melvin, Ambrose Ashwin; Gupta, Bhavana; Tieriekhov, Kostiantyn; Nogala, Wojciech; Garrigue, Patrick; Reculusa, Stephane; Kuhn, Alexander
• Is Part Of: Advanced functional materials. Volume 31:Number 22(2021)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-03-23
• Subjects: bipolar electrochemistry -- conducting polymers -- hybrid materials -- wireless actuation; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202101171
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1616-301X

Abstract

Abstract: Actuators controlled by external stimuli have received a lot of attention in recent years. Herein a polymer based dual stimuli actuator is reported, triggered by light and an electric field. This allows better control of actuation, enlarging the field of potential applications, like, for example, in the frame of soft robotics. The actuator is composed of polypyrrole and TiO2 modified with methylene blue. In an aqueous solution, the resulting freestanding hybrid film shows reversible actuation due to the synergy of light and an applied electric field. Illumination with light produces electron‐hole pairs in the TiO2 layer, which are shuttled to the opposite ends of the actuator by the potential gradient present in the solution. This results in electrochemical oxidation and reduction reactions at the two extremities and consequently in site selective swelling of the polymer, which finally leads to a controlled motion of the actuator, following the principles of logic gate operations. Such synergistically induced switching allows developing original actuation schemes for performing complex mechanical tasks triggered by more than one stimulus. Abstract : A hybrid film, based on the combination of polypyrrole and dye‐sensitized TiO2, is proposed as an actuator, stimulable by the simultaneous interaction with light and an electric field. This synergy allows wireless electromechanical actuation, which can be used as a switching mechanism in an electric circuit, and mimics a logic AND gate.