In contrast to conventional hard actuators, soft actuators offer many vivid advantages, such
as improved flexibility, adaptability, and reconfigurability, which are intrinsic to living …

In recent decades, origami has been explored to aid in the design of engineering structures.
These structures span multiple scales and have been demonstrated to be used toward …

Precise control over molecular movement is of fundamental and practical importance in
physics, biology, and chemistry. At nanoscale, the peculiar functioning principles and the …

Oscillating materials,,, that adapt their shapes in response to external stimuli are of interest
for emerging applications in medicine and robotics. For example, liquid-crystal networks can …

Liquid crystals are the basis of a pervasive technology of the modern era. Yet, as the display
market becomes commoditized, researchers in industry, government and academia are …

Real-time monitoring of strain/stress in polymers is a big challenge to date. Herein, we for
the first time report an ESIPT (excited-state intramolecular proton transfer)-based …

Nature provides much inspiration for the design of materials capable of motion upon
exposure to external stimuli, and many examples of such active systems have been created …

A key goal of nanotechnology is the development of artificial machines capable of
converting molecular movement into macroscopic work. Although conversion of light into …

Mobile organisms with ability for locomotion and transportation, such as humans and other
animals, utilize orchestrated actuation to perform actions. Mimicking these functionalities in …

Polymeric microactuators are potentially useful in micromechanical systems and lab-on-a-
chip systems. However, manufacturing of miniature polymeric actuators has been …