Robust, Healable, Self-Locomotive Integrated Robots Enabled by Noncovalent Assembled Gradient Nanostructure

Integration, being lightweight, and intelligence are important orientations for the future advancement of soft robots. However, existing soft robots are generally hydrogels or silicone rubber, which are inherently mechanically inferior and easily damaged and difficult to integrate functions. Here, inspired by nacre, an elastomer actuator with sulfonated graphene-based gradient nanostructures is constructed via supramolecular multi-scale assembly. The resulting nanocomposite possesses an ultrahigh toughness of 141.19 MJ/m(3) and high room-temperature self-healing efficiency (89%). The proof-of-concept robot is demonstrated to emphasize its maximum swimming speed of 2.67 body length per second, whose speed is comparable to that of plankton, representing the outperformance of most artificial soft robots. Furthermore, the robot can stably absorb pollutants and recover its robustness and functionality even when damaged. This study breaks the mutual exclusivity of functional execution and fast locomotions, and we anticipate that our nanostructural design will offer an effective extended path to other integrated robots that required multifunction integration.

Automated summary

Inspired by nacre, this study constructs an elastomer actuator with sulfonated graphene-based gradient nanostructures, which exhibits high toughness and self-healing efficiency. The designed soft robot demonstrates a swimming speed comparable to plankton and has the ability to stably absorb pollutants and recover functionality even when damaged.