Ant-nest-inspired porous structure for MXene composites with high-performance energy-storage and actuating multifunctions
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Luzhuo Chen1,2(
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Integrating energy-storage devices (supercapacitors) and shape-deformation devices (actuators) advances the miniaturization and multifunctional development of soft robots. However, soft robots necessitate supercapacitors with high energy-storage performance and actuators with excellent actuation capability. Here, inspired by ant nests, we present a porous structure fabricated by MXene-graphene-methylcellulose (M-GMC) composite, which overcomes the self-stacking of MXene nanosheets and offers a larger specific surface area. The porous structure provides more channels and active sites for electrolyte ions, resulting in high energy storage performance. The areal capacitance of the M-GMC electrode reaches up to 787.9 mF·cm−2, significantly superior to that of the pristine MXene electrode (449.1 mF·cm−2). Moreover, the M-GMC/polyethylene bilayer composites with energy storage and multi-responsive actuation functions are developed. The M-GMC is used as the electrode and the polyethylene is used as the encapsulation layer of the quasi-solid-state supercapacitor. Meanwhile, the actuators fabricated by the bilayer composites can be driven by light or low voltage (≤ 9 V). The maximum bending curvature is up to 5.11 cm−1. Finally, a smart gripper and a fully encapsulated smart integrated circuit based on the M-GMC/polyethylene are designed. The smart gripper enables programmable control with multi-stage deformations. The applications realize the intelligence and miniaturization of soft robots. The ant-nest-inspired M-GMC composites would provide a promising development strategy for soft robots and smart integrated devices.
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Ant-nest-inspired porous structure for MXene composites with high-performance energy-storage and actuating multifunctions
), Luzhuo Chen1,2(
)
Abstract
Integrating energy-storage devices (supercapacitors) and shape-deformation devices (actuators) advances the miniaturization and multifunctional development of soft robots. However, soft robots necessitate supercapacitors with high energy-storage performance and actuators with excellent actuation capability. Here, inspired by ant nests, we present a porous structure fabricated by MXene-graphene-methylcellulose (M-GMC) composite, which overcomes the self-stacking of MXene nanosheets and offers a larger specific surface area. The porous structure provides more channels and active sites for electrolyte ions, resulting in high energy storage performance. The areal capacitance of the M-GMC electrode reaches up to 787.9 mF·cm−2, significantly superior to that of the pristine MXene electrode (449.1 mF·cm−2). Moreover, the M-GMC/polyethylene bilayer composites with energy storage and multi-responsive actuation functions are developed. The M-GMC is used as the electrode and the polyethylene is used as the encapsulation layer of the quasi-solid-state supercapacitor. Meanwhile, the actuators fabricated by the bilayer composites can be driven by light or low voltage (≤ 9 V). The maximum bending curvature is up to 5.11 cm−1. Finally, a smart gripper and a fully encapsulated smart integrated circuit based on the M-GMC/polyethylene are designed. The smart gripper enables programmable control with multi-stage deformations. The applications realize the intelligence and miniaturization of soft robots. The ant-nest-inspired M-GMC composites would provide a promising development strategy for soft robots and smart integrated devices.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52373113 and 52302038), Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (Nos. 2021J02012 and 2021J01186), and Top Young Talents Program of Fujian Province and Open Research Fund Program of the State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics (No. KF202214).
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