A Highly Robust Amphibious Soft Robot with Imperceptibility Based on a Water‐Stable and Self‐Healing Ionic Conductor

Abstract

AbstractDielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are widely exploited for actuating soft machines and granting soft robots with capability to operate in both underwater and on‐land environments is important to make them adapt to more complex situations. Here, a DEA‐driven, highly robust, amphibious imperceptible soft robot (AISR) based on an all‐environment stable ionic conductive material is presented. A soft, self‐healable, all‐environment stable ionic conductor is developed by introducing cooperative ion–dipole interactions to provide underwater stability as well as efficient suppression of ion penetration. By tuning molecular structures of the material, a 50‐time device lifetime increase compared with unmodified [EMI][TFSI]‐based devices and excellent underwater actuating performance is achieved. With the synthesized ionic electrode, the DEA‐driven soft robot exhibits amphibious functionality to traverse hydro‐terrestrial regions. When encountering damage, the robot shows good resilience and can self‐heal underwater and it also exhibits imperceptibility to light, sound, and heat.