3D Bioplotter Research Papers

Soft strain sensors with high sensitivity and the ability to recover from damages are required in the emerging field of self-healing soft robotics. Herein, printable supercapacitive strain sensors that can heal upon moderate heating (75 °C for 10 min) and exhibit a 30 times higher sensitivity than PDMS-based sensors are developed. For the sensor’s core layer and electrode, a nitrile-functional polysiloxane that contains an active ionic initiator and can heal by siloxane equilibration at elevated temperatures is used. Supercapacitive strain sensors prepared from the elastomer are highly sensitive at low strains of 0-30%, enabled by the electric double-layer formation of…

Dielectric elastomer transducers (DET) are promising candidates for electrically-driven soft robotics. However, the high viscosity and low yield stress of DET formulations prohibit 3D printing, the most common manufacturing method for designer soft actuators. DET inks optimized for direct ink writing (DIW) produce elastomers with high stiffness and mechanical losses, diminishing the utility of DET actuators. To address the antagonistic nature of processing and performance constraints, principles of capillary suspensions are used to engineer DIW DET inks. By blending two immiscible polysiloxane liquids with a filler, a capillary ink suspension is obtained, in which the ink rheology can be tuned…