2026-10-11T16:29:44Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33955125 2026-09-21T16:07:44Z category_1 category_146 category_915 category_12 category_21 category_272 category_734 category_106 portal_63 item_type_2 month_year_09_2026

Alveolar-Inspired Negative-Pressure Soft Actuators with Integrated Actuation–Sensing Xueli Zhou (4499128) Ruidan Zhang (1363713) Yansong Chen (9352754) Zhihui Qian (482356) Qingping Liu (187234) Zhen Shang (516780) Lei Ren (277946) Luquan Ren (482357) Biophysics Space Science Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified Cell Biology Biotechnology Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Science Policy integrated actuation sensing induced porogenic method soft crawling robots soft actuator surface layer membrane composed dense structural layer pressure actuation strategy positive pressure actuation aml microbubbles expand pressure soft actuators soft robotics mimicking layer yielding bulky triggered switches systematically studied study presents study offers programmable reconfiguration pore structure mechanical properties fabricated via deformation behavior curing temperature complex systems biomedical devices 1 mpa Soft actuators show promise for soft robotics, wearables, and biomedical devices. However, existing pneumatic actuators rely on positive pressure actuation, yielding bulky, complex systems. This study presents a negative-pressure-driven soft actuator inspired by alveolar respiration. A double-layer membrane composed of a high-porosity alveolar-mimicking layer (AML) and a dense structural layer (DSL) was fabricated via an ethanol-induced porogenic method. Under negative pressure, AML microbubbles expand, driving macroscopic directional bending, constrained by the DSL. The effects of the curing temperature and ethanol content on the pore structure, mechanical properties, and deformation behavior were systematically studied. Integrated actuation sensing was achieved by depositing a carbon nanotube conductive coating on the alveolar-inspired negative-pressure-driven (AND) soft actuator surface. The AND soft actuator exhibits reversible deformation within 0.0 to −0.1 MPa and has been demonstrated in soft crawling robots, shape-programmable reconfiguration, and negative-pressure-triggered switches. This study offers a bioinspired negative-pressure actuation strategy, opening a route to high-performance integrated soft actuators. 2026-09-21T00:00:00Z Dataset Media 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6c02923.s002 https://figshare.com/articles/media/Alveolar-Inspired_Negative-Pressure_Soft_Actuators_with_Integrated_Actuation_Sensing/33955125 CC BY-NC 4.0