Yasaman Nemati, our PhD student trained within STORM-BOTs Training Network, together with Zixuan Deng and Dr. Hao Zeng reported an omnidirectional, sunlight-powered self-oscillation system enabled by ultra-sensitive liquid crystal elastomer developed by Prof. Tim White’s group and the shade surrounding it. It was also a collaboration with Aalto University. The oscillator is assembled by a twisting soft actuating filament and a lampshade-like frame. The spiral-structured lampshade ensures an equal amount of light to excite/relax the filament actuator, which sets the foundation for the omnidirectional response. The filament actuator made of liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) exhibits a remarkable response to low-intensity incoherent light field, e.g., the solar simulator. The concept of light-powered self-oscillating assembly is also demonstrated in up- and down-scaled dimensions.Read more in the original article “A Scalable, Incoherent-Light-Powered, Omnidirectional Self-Oscillator“.
Sunlight-powered self-oscillation.
The video shows self-sustained oscillation under 1 Sun broadband excitation. Light intensity: 100 mW cm-2. LCE strip dimensions: 30 mm (length) × 1 mm (width) × 0.25 mm (thickness).