Carbon Fiber Skeleton Reinforced Graphene@PDMS Composite Photothermal Actuator with Enhanced Actuation Performance for Biomimetic Applications

Soft actuators have garnered significant attention due to their potential applications in wearable devices, biomimetic robotics, and so on. However, achieving large reversible deformations while maintaining high output forces remains a considerable challenge. This study successfully developed a graphene@polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite material with high photothermal conversion ability and rapid photoresponsiveness. Inspired by the structural organization of biological muscles and skeletons, an innovative actuator design is proposed, incorporating carbon fiber bundles as a reinforced skeleton, along with a PDMS layer and a composite layer functioning as muscles. This approach led to the development of composite/carbon fiber skeleton/PDMS actuators with enhanced actuation performance. Under infrared laser irradiation, the actuator embedded with a carbon fiber skeleton (CFS) achieved a bending angle of 89.75°, which is 3.55 times that of the actuator without a CFS, and an output force of 0.96 mN, which is 2.56 times that of the actuator without a CFS. Furthermore, a variety of biomimetic applications are demonstrated, including biomimetic palms that replicate human gestures, artificial muscles that bend and lift objects 3 times their own weight through a bicep curl motion, load-bearing robots that support objects up to 22 times their own weight, and mechanical grippers that grasp objects weighing up to 8 times their own weight. These applications highlight the vast potential of this advanced actuator in soft robotics and bioinspired systems.