A Near‐Infrared Photoactuator Based on Shape Memory Semicrystalline Polymers toward Light‐Fueled Crane, Grasper, and Walker

Abstract Light‐driven soft actuators with adaptive shape changes, diverse geometric morphing, and reversible macroscopic movements have gained ever‐increasing interest owing to their diverse applications ranging from biomedical to aerospace devices. Herein, presented is a near‐infrared (NIR) light‐stimulated actuator based on cis‐1,4 polybutadiene‐polyethylene semicrystalline copolymer. In the system, a newly synthesized croconaine dye, 2,5‐bis[(6‐(11‐carboxyundecanoate)hexyl‐4‐carboxylate‐piperidylamino) thiophenyl]‐croconium, serves as both an NIR absorbing agent and cross‐linker. Taking advantage of easy processability, two‐way shape memory, and photothermal effects, the actuators thus‐made can undergo intriguing motions in response to NIR irradiation. As a light‐fueled crane, this material shows outstanding heavy‐lift capability; it can lift an item 11 200 times its own weight, and the lifting up/down motions are fully reversible. Besides, the photothermally induced expansion and contraction enables the actuator with reversible bending motions to serve as other remotely controlled soft robots; a light‐driven grasper that can grasp, lift up, lower down, and release an object and a walking robot that can crawl on a ratcheted substrate.