Smart Muscle-Driven Self-Cleaning of Biomimetic Microstructures from Liquid Crystal Elastomers.

Shahsavan, Hamed; Salili, Seyyed Muhammad; Jákli, Antal; Zhao, Boxin · Adv Mater · 2015

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Muscle-driven actuation of biomimetic microfibrillar structures is achieved using integrative soft-lithography on a backing splayed liquid-crystal elastomer (LCE). Variation in the backing LCE layer thickness yields different modes of thermal deformation from a pure bend to a twist-bend. Muscular motion and dynamic self-cleaning of gecko toe pads are mimicked via this mechanism.

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