Environmentally Friendly, Dual-Responsive Actuator Based on Nafion, Carboxylated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes, and Polyethylene

As a type of smart material, flexible stimulus-responsive actuators have become a hot research topic nowadays. However, flexible actuators responding to a single stimulus source are susceptible to external perturbations, which may lead to an unstable function or even failure. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed a bilayer actuator that can be driven by both humidity and light by combining the humidity-sensitive Nafion, carboxylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (cMWCNT) with excellent photothermal conversion properties, and commercial polyethylene (PE) tape with good humidity insensitivity and thermal expansion. First, the cMWCNT-Nafion film was prepared by a solution casting method and bonded together with PE tape to obtain a bilayer actuator. Then, the effects of the cMWCNT mass fraction and film thickness on the humidity and light response performance of the bilayer actuator were investigated. The optimal ratios of raw materials were obtained for different stimulation sources, respectively. Furthermore, the performance of the bilayer actuator with the optimal ratios was tested; it was verified that the proposed dual-responsive actuator can realize different degrees of bending deformation under different relative humidity (RH) and ultraviolet (UV) light intensity with good stability. Finally, the application potential in multiple scenarios was further verified by applying the prepared cMWCNT-Nafion/PE bilayer actuator to a smart window, crawling robot, and flexible gripper. This paper will provide a meaningful reference for the development and performance optimization of high-performance dual-responsive actuators.