Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 117, Issue 16, Pages 8711-8718Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1922560117
Keywords
natural materials; biomimetics; pollen; actuators; wearable sensor
Categories
Funding
- National Research Foundation of Singapore through a Competitive Research Program [NRF-CRP10-2012-07]
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) through the A*STAR Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Individual Research Grants (AME IRG) [A1983c0031]
- Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
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Here we describe the development of a humidity-responsive sheet of paper that is derived solely from natural pollen. Adaptive soft material components of the paper exhibit diverse and well-integrated responses to humidity that promote shape reconfiguration, actuation, and locomotion. This mechanically versatile and nonallergenic paper can generate a cyclically high contractile stress upon water absorption and desorption, and the rapid exchange of water drives locomotion due to hydrodynamic effects. Such dynamic behavior can be finely tuned by adjusting the structure and properties of the paper, including thickness, surface roughness, and processing conditions, analogous to those of classical soapmaking. We demonstrate that humidity-responsive paper-like actuators can mimic the blooming of the Michelia flower and perform self-propelled motion. Harnessing the material properties of bioinspired systems such as pollen paper opens the door to a wide range of sustainable, eco-friendly, and biocompatible material innovation platforms for applications in sensing, actuation, and locomotion.
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