Soft-Robotic Actuations of Collectively Assembled Soft-Electronics Based on MXene/Liquid Crystal Elastomer Bilayer

To achieve remotely controlled shape-reconfiguration in miniaturized soft-electronics, liquid crystalline polymer with alignment programming is a great candidate to replace the passive deformation of stretchable electronics under mechanical tension. In this presentation, we introduce programmable and shape-reconfigurable and locomotive soft-electronics by preparing the MXene/liquid crystalline elastomer bilayer (MLB) with a concept of collective assembly. The high light-to-heat conversion efficiency and high electrical conductivity (~5,100 S cm^-1) of MXene layer enables MLB to perform photo-/electro-thermally driven reversible in-plane bending and torsional twisting according to offset angle of molecular alignment by near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation and voltage application. Importantly, the introduction of collective assembly enhances the diversity and functionality in shape-reconfiguration of MLB via attaching the ends of MLBs by utilizing the conductive paste. To demonstrate applicability as a soft-robotic system, we engineer the both geometries and alignment nature of applied MLBs blocks for assembly to achieve various remotely controllable dynamic motions including crawling, continuous rotation, as well as jumping and slingshot inspired actions via snap-through buckling.