From Anisotropic Molecules and Particles to Small-Scale Actuators and Robots: An Account of Polymerized Liquid Crystals

Abstract

Untethered small-scale (milli-, micro-, and nano-) soft robots promise minimally invasive and targeted medical procedures in tiny, flooded, and confined environments like inside the human body. Despite such potentials, small-scale robots have not yet found their way to real-world applications. This can be mainly attributed to the fundamental and technical challenges in the fabrication, powering, navigation, imaging, and closed-loop control of robots at submillimiter scales. Pertinent to this Account, the selection of building block materials of small-scale robots also poses a challenge that is directly related to their fabrication and function.