Low electric field‐driven and fast‐moving relaxor ferroelectric soft robots

Abstract Bioinspired soft robots hold great potential to perform tasks in unstructured terrains. Ferroelectric polymers are highly valued in soft robots for their flexibility, lightweight, and electrically controllable deformation. However, achieving large strains in ferroelectric polymers typically...

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Main Authors: Longchao Huang, Weili Deng, Guo Tian, Yue Sun, Tao Yang, Boling Lan, Xuelan Li, Yang Liu, Tianpei Xu, Shenglong Wang, Yong Ao, Jieling Zhang, Long Jin, Weiqing Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-06-01
Series:InfoMat
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/inf2.70015
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author Longchao Huang
Weili Deng
Guo Tian
Yue Sun
Tao Yang
Boling Lan
Xuelan Li
Yang Liu
Tianpei Xu
Shenglong Wang
Yong Ao
Jieling Zhang
Long Jin
Weiqing Yang
author_facet Longchao Huang
Weili Deng
Guo Tian
Yue Sun
Tao Yang
Boling Lan
Xuelan Li
Yang Liu
Tianpei Xu
Shenglong Wang
Yong Ao
Jieling Zhang
Long Jin
Weiqing Yang
author_sort Longchao Huang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Bioinspired soft robots hold great potential to perform tasks in unstructured terrains. Ferroelectric polymers are highly valued in soft robots for their flexibility, lightweight, and electrically controllable deformation. However, achieving large strains in ferroelectric polymers typically requires high driving voltages, posing a significant challenge for practical applications. In this study, we investigate the role of crystalline domain size in enhancing the electrostrain performance of the relaxor ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene‐chlorofluoroethylene‐fluorinated alkynes) (P(VDF‐TrFE‐CFE‐FA)). Leveraging its remarkable inverse piezoelectric coefficient (|d33*| = 701 pm V−1), we demonstrate that the planar films exhibit a five times larger bending angle than that of commercial PVDF films at low electric fields. Based on this material, we design a petal‐structured soft robot that achieves a curvature of up to 4.5 cm−1 at a DC electric field of 30 V μm−1. When integrated into a bipedal soft robot, it manifests outstanding electrostrain performance, achieving rapid locomotion of ~19 body lengths per second (BL s−1) at 10 V μm−1 (560 Hz). Moreover, the developed robot demonstrates remarkable abilities in climbing slopes and carrying heavy loads. These findings open new avenues for developing low‐voltage‐driven soft robots with significant promise for practical applications.
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spelling doaj-art-c187fddd53cf4242ba1e2be210f2fc172025-08-20T03:21:34ZengWileyInfoMat2567-31652025-06-0176n/an/a10.1002/inf2.70015Low electric field‐driven and fast‐moving relaxor ferroelectric soft robotsLongchao Huang0Weili Deng1Guo Tian2Yue Sun3Tao Yang4Boling Lan5Xuelan Li6Yang Liu7Tianpei Xu8Shenglong Wang9Yong Ao10Jieling Zhang11Long Jin12Weiqing Yang13Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials Science and Engineering Southwest Jiaotong University Chengdu the People's Republic of ChinaAbstract Bioinspired soft robots hold great potential to perform tasks in unstructured terrains. Ferroelectric polymers are highly valued in soft robots for their flexibility, lightweight, and electrically controllable deformation. However, achieving large strains in ferroelectric polymers typically requires high driving voltages, posing a significant challenge for practical applications. In this study, we investigate the role of crystalline domain size in enhancing the electrostrain performance of the relaxor ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene‐chlorofluoroethylene‐fluorinated alkynes) (P(VDF‐TrFE‐CFE‐FA)). Leveraging its remarkable inverse piezoelectric coefficient (|d33*| = 701 pm V−1), we demonstrate that the planar films exhibit a five times larger bending angle than that of commercial PVDF films at low electric fields. Based on this material, we design a petal‐structured soft robot that achieves a curvature of up to 4.5 cm−1 at a DC electric field of 30 V μm−1. When integrated into a bipedal soft robot, it manifests outstanding electrostrain performance, achieving rapid locomotion of ~19 body lengths per second (BL s−1) at 10 V μm−1 (560 Hz). Moreover, the developed robot demonstrates remarkable abilities in climbing slopes and carrying heavy loads. These findings open new avenues for developing low‐voltage‐driven soft robots with significant promise for practical applications.https://doi.org/10.1002/inf2.70015domain designelectrostrainrelaxor ferroelectric polymersoft robot
spellingShingle Longchao Huang
Weili Deng
Guo Tian
Yue Sun
Tao Yang
Boling Lan
Xuelan Li
Yang Liu
Tianpei Xu
Shenglong Wang
Yong Ao
Jieling Zhang
Long Jin
Weiqing Yang
Low electric field‐driven and fast‐moving relaxor ferroelectric soft robots
InfoMat
domain design
electrostrain
relaxor ferroelectric polymer
soft robot
title Low electric field‐driven and fast‐moving relaxor ferroelectric soft robots
title_full Low electric field‐driven and fast‐moving relaxor ferroelectric soft robots
title_fullStr Low electric field‐driven and fast‐moving relaxor ferroelectric soft robots
title_full_unstemmed Low electric field‐driven and fast‐moving relaxor ferroelectric soft robots
title_short Low electric field‐driven and fast‐moving relaxor ferroelectric soft robots
title_sort low electric field driven and fast moving relaxor ferroelectric soft robots
topic domain design
electrostrain
relaxor ferroelectric polymer
soft robot
url https://doi.org/10.1002/inf2.70015
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AT taoyang lowelectricfielddrivenandfastmovingrelaxorferroelectricsoftrobots
AT bolinglan lowelectricfielddrivenandfastmovingrelaxorferroelectricsoftrobots
AT xuelanli lowelectricfielddrivenandfastmovingrelaxorferroelectricsoftrobots
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