Research Projects

Recently, actuating materials have witnessed rapid growth because of their exciting capabilities in wearables, artificial muscles, bionic robotics, and photonic devices with the latest nanotechnologies and material science. The actuating materials such as liquid-crystal elastomers, dielectric elastomers, paper-based materials, hydrogel, and carbon-based materials can be driven by external stimuli (e.g., heat, electricity, light, pH, strain, magnetism, humidity) by changing their own properties such as shape-deformation amplitude and actuation speed. Additionally, real-time input on shape change is also essential for designing soft robots. However, light stands out among other triggers as an especially alluring tool for clinical uses given its non-invasive nature, simplicity of use, resilience in the biological milieu, tunable intensity, and excellent temporal and spatial control, inspired by IR adaptations in living organisms, extensive efforts have been devoted for exploring advanced IR adaptive materials and their practical applications in multitudinous IR technologies. 2D materials such as Graphene and its derivatives, Mxenes are explored candidates for the fabrication of smart and high-performance actuators due to their fascinating properties, including extraordinary flexibility, low weight density, high mechanical strength and electrical conductivity, unique thermal and optical properties, and good stability. However, the transition metal chalcogenides (TMDCs) are two-dimensional (2D) layered materials with great IR adaptive nature, light conversion ability, great mechanical strength, rich surface chemistry characteristics, excellent physical properties such as high electrical conductivity high thermal conductivity and ultrahigh photothermal conversion efficiency which make them promising candidates for different functional devices. In this project, the research team will develop a scalable process to fabricate soft robots using 2D material-based multilayer (bilayer, tri-layer and layer gradient composites) hybrid structure under the irradiation of light stimuli. These soft robots will be further used in efficient wireless actuation and movement control based on real-time feedback signals.