Variable stiffness wires based on magnetorheological liquid metals  

作　　者：Xiangbo Zhou Jian Shu Hu Jin Hongtai Ren Gang Ma Ning Gong Duan Ge Juan Shi Shi-Yang Tang Guolin Yun Hongda Lu Shuai Dong Xiangpeng Li Shiwu Zhang Weihua Li 

机构地区：[1]CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials,Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation,University of Science and Technology of China,Hefei,Anhui,China [2]School of Mechanical,Materials,Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering,University of Wollongong,NSW,Australia [3]Department of Electronic,Electrical and Systems Engineering,School of Engineering,University of Birmingham,Birmingham,UK [4]College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering,Soochow University,Suzhou,Jiangsu,China

出　　处：《International Journal of Smart and Nano Materials》2022年第2期232-243,共12页国际智能和纳米材料杂志（英文）

基　　金：This research was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(nos.51975550,U1713206,and 51828503).

摘　　要：Magnetorheological fluid(MRF)has shown its great potential in the development of large mechanical devices,such as dampers,shock absorbers,rotary brakes,clutches,and prosthetic joints.Recently,more research focus has been invested on using MRF to develop soft,stretchable,and miniaturized devices with variable stiffness for realizing functionalities that cannot be achieved using solid smart materials.Here,based on liquid metal magnetoactive slurries(LMMS),a variable stiffness wire with excellent electrical conductivity is demonstrated.Without exposure to a magnetic field,the LMMS wire has an extremely low stiffness,and can be easily stretched while maintaining an excellent electrical conductivity.When applying a magnetic field,the wire becomes much stiffer and can retain its shape even under a load.The combination of properties of flexibility,high electrical conductivity,and variable stiffness of the wire is harnessed to make a flexible gripper that can grasp objects of various shapes.Moreover,by using gallium instead of its liquid metal alloys,the tunable stiffness range of the LMMS wire is signifi-cantly enhanced and can be controlled using both external magnetic fields and temperature-induced phase change.The presented LMMS wire has the potential to be applied in flexible electronics,soft robotics and so on.

关 键 词：Liquid metal magnetorheological fluid(MRF) various stiffness stretchable electronics soft robotics 

分 类 号：TG142[一般工业技术—材料科学与工程]