Bioinspired Superhydrophobic Swimming Robots with Embedded Microfluidic Networks and Photothermal Switch for Controllable Marangoni Propulsion

• Published in: Advanced functional materials Vol. 33; no. 6
• Main Authors: Mao, Jiang‐Wei, Han, Dong‐Dong, Zhou, Hao, Sun, Hong‐Bo, Zhang, Yong‐Lai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.02.2023
• Subjects: Actuation; Air chambers; Channels; Controllability; Digital cameras; Fuels; Graphene; Hydrophobic surfaces; Hydrophobicity; Insects; laser irradiation; Marangoni convection; Marangoni propulsion; Materials science; Microfluidics; photothermal switches; Polydimethylsiloxane; Propulsion; Robotics; Robots; Route planning; Surface tension; Swimming; swimming robots; Water resistance

Chemical Marangoni propulsion enables dynamic and untethered motion by generating surface tension gradient through chemical release, thereby having great potential for the development of insect‐scale self‐propelled robots. However, as the release and diffusion of chemical “fuels” are commonly uncont...