Development of fast photoresponsive soft actuator

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26289062
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Intelligent mechanics/Mechanical systems
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Watanabe Toshiyuki 東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (10210923)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 戸谷 健朗 東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), その他 (50397014)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: ソフトアクチュエーター / フォトメカニカル / 光応答性 / 高分子ゲル / アゾベンゼン / ポリアミド酸 / ポリイミド

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Since the oligomer used in the previous study has a molecular weight dispersion, it is considered that the homogeneity of the network is not uniform and, as a result, the photoresponsive speed is slowed.In this study, we synthesized a novel crosslinking agent N, N-Bis (3,5-diaminobenzoyl) -4,4'-diaminoazobenzene (BDA-Azo) with azobenzene embeded in the center of a tetra-functional amine, A polymer gel was synthesized by an end crosslinking method with an anhydride. Among azobenzene introduced in the network of polymer gel, the proportion of molecules effective for photoresponsiveness has greatly increased from 66% to 87%. The light deflecting speed of the new polymer gels increased to 1.5 times that of the conventional gels. In addition, in this research, by increasing the crosslinking density, aggregation between segments was reduced and succeeded in maintaining the original deformation rate and reversible photoresponsiveness even after converting to highly rigid imide bonds.

Free Research Field

高分子機能材料