An Unconventional Approach to Photomobile Composite Polymer Films

Riccardo Castagna; Luca Nucara; Francesco Simoni; Lucedio Greci; Massimo Rippa; Lucia Petti; Daniele E Lucchetta

doi:10.1002/adma.201604800

An Unconventional Approach to Photomobile Composite Polymer Films

Adv Mater. 2017 Apr;29(13). doi: 10.1002/adma.201604800. Epub 2017 Feb 1.

Authors

Riccardo Castagna^{1

2}, Luca Nucara^{3

4}, Francesco Simoni⁵, Lucedio Greci⁶, Massimo Rippa¹, Lucia Petti¹, Daniele E Lucchetta⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Applied Sciences and Intelligent Systems-ISASI, CNR, Via Campi Flegrei, 34, Comprensorio Olivetti, 80078, Pozzuoli, Napoli, Italy.
² Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR, Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro, 12, 56127, Pisa, PI, Italy.
³ The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025, Pontedera, PI, Italy.
⁴ Center for Micro-BioRobotics @SSSA, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025, Pontedera, PI, Italy.
⁵ Dipartimento SIMAU, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, AN, Italy.
⁶ Istituto Chimico, Facoltà di Ingegneria, Università di Bologna, Viale Risorgimento, 2, I-401 36, Bologna, Italy.

PMID: 28145594
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201604800

Abstract

Photomobile polymer (Pmp) films are fabricated by using a cheap and fast process. The working mechanism of the Pmp-film motion under illumination is explained. Details concerning the film structure and formation are given. Two related applications regarding light-induced caterpillar-miming motion and photocontrolled electrical switches are proposed.

Keywords: light-driven robots; photopolymers; photoresponsive actuators; smart materials.