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Nano Research 2023, 16(7): 10198-10205 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5621-2
Research Article | Issue | Published: 30 March 2023

A bioinspired, self-powered, flytrap-based sensor and actuator enabled by voltage triggered hydrogel electrodes

Show Author's Information Zhiliang Hou1,  Xuebiao Li1,  Xinru Zhang1,  Wendong Zhang1,  Zhong Lin Wang2,3( ),  Hulin Zhang1( )
College of Information and Computer, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101400, China
Keywords:
triboelectric nanogenerator, self-powered, sensor and actuator, flytrap, hydrogel electrode
Topics:
Biosensors
Cite this article:
Hou Z, Li X, Zhang X, et al. A bioinspired, self-powered, flytrap-based sensor and actuator enabled by voltage triggered hydrogel electrodes. Nano Research, 2023, 16(7): 10198-10205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5621-2
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Because of its adaptive interfacial property, soft sensors/actuators can be used to perform more delicate tasks than their rigid counterparts. However, plant epidermis with a waxy cuticle layer challenges stable and high-fidelity non-invasive electrophysiology since the conventional electrodes are invasive, easily detached from plants, and require complicated setup procedures. Here, we report a bioinspired sensor and actuator created by using a conformable electrode interface as an electrical modulation unit on a Venus flytrap. Our conformable electrode, by employing an adhesive hydrogel layer, can achieve the merits of low impedance, stretchable, biocompatible, reusable, and transparent enough for normal chlorophyll activity to occur. Owing to the high sensitivity of a flytrap to a triggering mechanical stimulation, a plant sensor matrix based on flytraps has been demonstrated by capturing the stimulated action potential (AP) signals from upper epidermis, which can orient honeybee colonies by their touch during collecting nectar. Moreover, via frequency-dependent AP modulation, an autonomous on-demand actuation on a flytrap is realized. The flytrap actuator can be controlled to responsively grasp tiny objects by the modulated signals triggered by a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). This work paves a way of developing autonomous plant-based sensors and actuators toward smart agriculture and intelligent robots.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

A bioinspired, self-powered, flytrap-based sensor and actuator enabled by voltage triggered hydrogel electrodes

Show Author's information Zhiliang Hou1, Xuebiao Li1, Xinru Zhang1, Wendong Zhang1, Zhong Lin Wang2,3( ), Hulin Zhang1( )
College of Information and Computer, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101400, China

Abstract

Because of its adaptive interfacial property, soft sensors/actuators can be used to perform more delicate tasks than their rigid counterparts. However, plant epidermis with a waxy cuticle layer challenges stable and high-fidelity non-invasive electrophysiology since the conventional electrodes are invasive, easily detached from plants, and require complicated setup procedures. Here, we report a bioinspired sensor and actuator created by using a conformable electrode interface as an electrical modulation unit on a Venus flytrap. Our conformable electrode, by employing an adhesive hydrogel layer, can achieve the merits of low impedance, stretchable, biocompatible, reusable, and transparent enough for normal chlorophyll activity to occur. Owing to the high sensitivity of a flytrap to a triggering mechanical stimulation, a plant sensor matrix based on flytraps has been demonstrated by capturing the stimulated action potential (AP) signals from upper epidermis, which can orient honeybee colonies by their touch during collecting nectar. Moreover, via frequency-dependent AP modulation, an autonomous on-demand actuation on a flytrap is realized. The flytrap actuator can be controlled to responsively grasp tiny objects by the modulated signals triggered by a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). This work paves a way of developing autonomous plant-based sensors and actuators toward smart agriculture and intelligent robots.

Keywords: triboelectric nanogenerator, self-powered, sensor and actuator, flytrap, hydrogel electrode

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 11 December 2022
Revised: 17 February 2023
Accepted: 27 February 2023
Published: 30 March 2023
Issue date: July 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2023

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Shanxi Province Science Foundation (No. 20210302123190) and Shanxi Scholarship Council of China (No. HGKY2019022).

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