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Plant-inspired soft actuators powered by water

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Abstract

Unlike animals, plants lack motion-generating systems such as a central nervous system or muscles, but they have successfully developed mechanisms to sense and respond to environmental changes, ensuring their survival. Most of their movements rely on the movement of water into and out of their cells or tissues, which are intrinsically soft and porous. Understanding and harnessing these natural processes can lead to the development of environmentally friendly and biocompatible soft actuator systems. This article explains the strategies employed by plants to generate movement through water transportation, categorizing them into osmosis-driven and hygroscopic swelling-driven mechanisms. Additionally, we discuss the latest trends in soft actuators that replicate plant water-utilizing movements, suggest directions for further development, and provide a review of practical applications.

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Figure 1

Adapted with permission from Reference 31. © 2011 Elsevier. (c) Main pulvinus of Mimosa pudica showing the changes from its open state to closed state after mechanical stimulation. Adapted with permission from Reference 33. © 2000 Springer Nature. (d) Drosera stolonifera with open leaves and leaves folded to capture prey. (e) Mimosa pudica before and after touch stimulation. (f) Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) with its trap in open and closed states. (d–f) Photos by B.A. Rice (2018). The Carnivorous Plant FAQ v.12. https://www.sarracenia.com/faq.html. (g) Comparison of hydrostatic pressures of plant cells and common mechanical systems, such as car tires and residential water supplies.

Figure 2
Figure 3

Adapted with permission from Reference 70. © 2013 Springer Nature. (c) A pH-responsive hydrogel actuator having polymeric micro-fins embedded within the hydrogels. Adapted with permission from Reference 73. © 2015 Springer Nature. (d) Liquid lens system based on temperature-responsive hydrogel actuators. (Scale bar: 1 mm) Adapted with permission from Reference 74. © 2006 Springer Nature. (e) Halftone gel lithography process using a photo-cross-linkable hydrogel. Spatially patterned swelling achieved through local UV exposure. Adapted with permission from Reference 76. © 2012 AAAS. (f) “Ionoprinting” technique that achieves controlled swelling ratio by imprinting ions via electric fields. (Scale bar: 3 mm) Adapted with permission from Reference 77. © 2013 Springer Nature. (g) Embedding of stiff cellulose fibrils within hydrogels for localized anisotropy. The cellulose fibrils are aligned during the printing process. (Scale bar: 5 mm, inset: 2.5 mm) Adapted with permission from Reference 79. © 2016 Springer Nature. (h) Thermoresponsive hydrogel actuator with a layered structure of unilamellar titanate (IV) nanosheets. Significant elongation and contraction of a hydrogel actuator is obtained using co-facially oriented electrolyte nanosheets. Adapted with permission from Reference 80. © 2015 Springer Nature.

Figure 4

Adapted with permission from Reference 3. © 2022 AAAS. (b) Liposomes, spherical vesicles composed of phospholipid bilayers, capable of osmosis due to their inherent structure. (c) “Osmotic engine model” employed in liposome-based actuators within microchannels. Adapted with permission from Reference 90. © 2014 Elsevier.

Figure 5

Adapted with permission from Reference 92. © 2015 Springer Nature. (b) Scales of pine cone responding to surrounding humidity variation to release its seed under a favorable environmental condition. Seeds of (c) wild wheat and (d) Pelargonium have long appendages that can make bending and coiling motion to bury themselves into the soil by repeating bending and coiling motions, respectively. (c) Adapted with permission from Reference 93. © 2007 AAAS. (d) Adapted with permission from Reference 95 with permission. © 2020 Elsevier.

Figure 6
Figure 7

Adapted with permission from Reference 95. © 2020 Elsevier. (b) Wrapping a sponge with a thread that acts as a mechanical constraint. Depending on the orientation of the thread, the pitch and radius of coiling motion change. (Scale bar: 2 cm) Adapted with permission from Reference 122. © 2012 The Royal Society. (c) Controlling the deformation of a shape-memory polymer sheet by UV irradiation to create spatial patterns of the expansion rate to relative humidity (RH). Adapted with permission from Reference 114. © 2022 American Chemical Society. (d) Implementing a coiling actuator by cutting a unidirectionally deposited nanofiber mesh to form a specific angle with the direction of the fiber arrangement. Adapted with permission from Reference 95. © 2020 Elsevier. (e) During the 3D printing process of liquid-crystal elastomer (LCE), the LC is aligned by the shear force. The LC-based actuator shows helical coiling motion. Adapted with permission from Reference 106. © 2021 Wiley.

Figure 8

Adapted with permission from Reference 125. © 2015 Springer Nature. (c) Schematics of a chamber with a periodically moving window. The shaft rotates as the window of the chamber opens and closes, leading to the rotation of the wheels and locomotion of the vehicle. (Scale bar: 1 cm) Adapted with permission from Reference 9. © 2023 Mary Ann Liebert Inc.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (Grant Nos. 2018-052541 and 2021-017476) and the Gachon University research fund of 2019 (GCU-2019-0800). The administrative support from SNU Institute of Engineering Research is acknowledged.

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Author notes

  1. Beomjune Shin and Sohyun Jung have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA

    Beomjune Shin

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

    Sohyun Jung, Munkyeong Choi & Ho-Young Kim

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea

    Keunhwan Park

  4. Institute of Advanced Machines and Design, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

    Ho-Young Kim

Authors
  1. Beomjune Shin
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  2. Sohyun Jung
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  3. Munkyeong Choi
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  4. Keunhwan Park
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  5. Ho-Young Kim
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Contributions

B.S. and S.J. conducted literature review. B.S., S.J., and M.C. wrote the initial draft. K.P. and H.-Y.K. conceived the project and supervised the article.

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Correspondence to Keunhwan Park or Ho-Young Kim.

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Shin, B., Jung, S., Choi, M. et al. Plant-inspired soft actuators powered by water. MRS Bulletin 49, 159–172 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-024-00663-3

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