Bioinspired Ionic Soft Actuator Based on Core-Shell-Structured Bacterial Cellulose Membrane

Abstract

Bioinspired soft actuators have received burgeoning interest because of their applications in future electronic devices including soft robots, soft haptic devices, human-friendly flexible wearable devices, and biomedical robots. Here, a biofriendly soft actuator was newly designed based on core-shell-structured bacterial cellulose membrane, which was fabricated by homogeneously depositing polypyrrole nanoparticles on the surface of TEMPO-Oxidized bacterial cellulose (TOBC) nanofibers via a chemical polymerization method. The proposed soft actuator under both harmonic and step electrical inputs showed relatively large bending mechanical deformation, fast response time, and good long-term durability in air condition, which was due to the enhanced electrochemical properties of TOBC-Polypyrrole membrane, resulting from its highly porous structure and high conductivity. Therefore, the designed TOBC-Polypyrrole actuator can be a strong candidate for bioinspired actuating devices such as, soft and wearable electronics, and active biomedical devices.