Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEAs) are a type of smart material described as compliant capacitors. They show impressive performances as soft actuators, such as a high strain and fast response. Nonetheless, replicating natural muscle function with DEAs h ...
Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)2024
Polymer-based nanocomposites emerged in the 1960s as a groundbreaking approach to advanced materials. By incorporating robust, durable, and multifunctional nanomaterials into a polymer matrix, the performance of nanocomposites has significantly surpassed t ...
Infrared and Raman spectroscopies are ubiquitous techniques employed in many experimental laboratories, thanks to their fast and non-destructive nature able to capture materials' features as spectroscopic fingerprints. Nevertheless, these measurements freq ...
The use of soft and stretchable materials allows the development of adaptive robotic systems and human-machine interfaces that are more natural and comfortable to interact with. One of the application fields that benefits the most from these compliant mate ...
The pyroresistive response of conductive polymer composites (CPCs) has attracted much interest because of its potential applications in many electronic devices requiring a significant responsiveness to changes in external physical parameters such as temper ...
Pyroelectricity in a recently developed all-organic composite electret with a polar polynorbornene-based filler and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix has been studied with the help of thermal and dielectric techniques. Measurement of the pyroelectric p co ...
We report a soft actuator that generates continuous rotation of an object placed on it by electromagnetically exciting circular travelling waves in a soft disk. The disk, that serves as the stator, is made of a stretchable composite consisting of segments ...
Low-temperature plasmas (LTPs) at atmospheric pressure hold great promise for disinfection and sterilization applications. When compared to traditional sterilization technologies like autoclaving, LTPs may offer several benefits, including reduced energy c ...
The conception of epoxy thermosets with both reprocessability and flame retardancy delineates a new horizon in polymer science, offering a material solution that is not only superior in fire safety but is also environment friendly. Herein, a flame-retardan ...
As demonstrated by the Soft Robotics Toolkit Platform, compliant robotics pose an exciting educational opportunity. Underwater robotics using soft undulating fins is an expansive research topic with applications such as exploration of underwater life or re ...