Dual electro- and magneto-induced bending actuators of magnetite-loaded agarose ionogels

Kornkanok Rotjanasuworapong; Wanchai Lerdwijitjarud; Anuvat Sirivat

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120741

Dual electro- and magneto-induced bending actuators of magnetite-loaded agarose ionogels

Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Jun 15:310:120741. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120741. Epub 2023 Feb 23.

Authors

Kornkanok Rotjanasuworapong¹, Wanchai Lerdwijitjarud², Anuvat Sirivat³

Affiliations

¹ Conductive and Electroactive Polymers Research Unit, The Petroleum and Petrochemical College, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
² Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Technology, Silpakorn University, Nakorn Pathom 73000, Thailand.
³ Conductive and Electroactive Polymers Research Unit, The Petroleum and Petrochemical College, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: anuvat.s@chula.ac.th.

PMID: 36925256
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120741

Abstract

Magnetic ionogels are a new kind of gel composites which combine the elastic properties from the swollen gel matrix and the magnetic properties from a magnetic filler. The dual electro-magneto-responsive agarose ionogels (AG IGels) were fabricated by a solution casting method using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [Bmim][Cl] as the ionic liquid solvent, and embedded with magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NPs). The addition of Fe₃O₄ NPs induced the high bending responses under applied electric and magnetic fields via the electronic polarization and magnetic interaction. The 3.0 wt.% Fe₃O₄/AG MagIGel showed the largest deflection distances relative to other magnetic gel composites; 14.92, 8.96, and 21.63 mm under the applied electric fields of 600 V/mm in silicone oil, 60 V/mm in air, and under the applied magnetic field of 600 G in air, respectively. The bending distances were of comparable in magnitudes to other electro-magneto-responsive materials. Thus, the fabricated Fe₃O₄/AG MagIGels are demonstrated here as potential for soft electric-magnetic actuator applications.

Keywords: Actuator; Agarose; Bending responses; Ionic liquid; Magnetic gel; Magnetite.