4D Printed Actuators with Soft-Robotic Functions
Open accessAbstract
Soft matter elements undergoing programed, reversible shape change can contribute to fundamental advance in areas such as optics, medicine, microfluidics, and robotics. Crosslinked liquid crystalline polymers have demonstrated huge potential to implement soft responsive elements; however, the complexity and size of the actuators are limited by the current dominant thin-film geometry processing toolbox. Using 3D printing, stimuli-responsive liquid crystalline elastomeric structures are created here. The printing process prescribes a reversible shape-morphing behavior, offering a new paradigm for active polymer system preparation. The additive character of this technology also leads to unprecedented geometries, complex functions, and sizes beyond those of typical thin-films. The fundamental concepts and devices presented therefore overcome the current limitations of actuation energy available from thin-films, thereby narrowing the gap between materials and practical applications.
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Voxelated LCEs capable of actuating reversibly and exhibiting large work capacities have been produced in thick-film geometries about 1 mm thick via 3D printing.
“Recently, voxelated LCEs, capable of actuating reversibly and exhibiting large work capacities, have been produced in thick-film geometries (about 1 mm thick) via 3D printing [200-204].”
From Two-Way and Multiple-Way Shape Memory Polymers for Soft Robotics: An Overview (2020) · cites this paper as [203]
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Liquid Crystal Polymer‐Based Soft Robots
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4D Printing of Liquid Crystals: What's Right for Me?
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“4D printing has been demonstrated through the use of a variety of smart materials, including shape memory polymers (SMP), liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) and hydrogels [1,2,4,5, 7-11]; with these materials fabricated through a range of 3D printing techniques, such as stereolithography, fused filament fabrication (FFF)…”
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Review on recent advances in 4D printing of shape memory polymers
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4D printing in biomedical applications: emerging trends and technologies
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4D printing: The spotlight for 3D printed smart materials
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Programming Shape-Morphing Behavior of Liquid Crystal Elastomers via Parameter-Encoded 4D Printing
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Recent advances in additive manufacturing of active mechanical metamaterials
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Voxelated Molecular Patterning in Three-Dimensional Freeforms
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Liquid Crystal Soft Actuators and Robots toward Mixed Reality
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Bio-inspired liquid crystal actuator materials
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Control-Based 4D Printing: Adaptive 4D-Printed Systems
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Amine‐Acrylate Liquid Single Crystal Elastomers Reinforced by Hydrogen Bonding
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Sustainable Robotic Joints 4D Printing with Variable Stiffness Using Reinforcement Learning
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4D Printed Multifunctional Composites with Cooling‐Rate Mediated Tunable Shape Morphing
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- Authors
- López‐Valdeolivas, M., Liu, D., Broer, D. J., & Sánchez‐Somolinos, C.
- Affiliations
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
- Laboratory of Functional Organic Materials and Devices Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Eindhoven University of Technology P.O. Box 513 5600 MB Eindhoven The Netherlands
- Corresponding author
- Sánchez‐Somolinos, Carlos
- Venue
- Macromolecular Rapid Communications
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-12-06
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 5
- ISSN
- 1022-1336 (ISSN-L)
- 1521-3927
- OpenAlex
- W2771751522
- Cited by
- 371
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 62 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 16
- FWCI
- 24.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Macromolecular Rapid Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Zaguan (University of Zaragoza Repository) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (SAF2014‐54763‐C2‐2‐R)
- H2020 European Research Council (66999)
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (15135)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Advanced Materials and Mechanics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials › Liquid Crystal Research Advancements
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Dielectric materials and actuators
- Keywords
- 4D printing, soft robotics, actuators, liquid crystal elastomers, stimuli-responsive polymers, shape morphing, additive manufacturing, active polymers
- MeSH terms
- Polymers, Robotics, Temperature, Molecular Structure, Elastomers, Printing, Three-Dimensional
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