Physics Colloquium: Microrobots with electrically programmable shapes

The Department of Physics is pleased to welcome Dr. Qingkun Liu for a virtual colloquia presentation. Dr. Qingkun Liu is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Itai Cohen research group at Cornell University, particularly interested in liquid crystals, nanomaterials, biomaterials, microrobotics, and nanophotonics.

Abstract

Could we design intelligent microrobots that fold itself, shift their shapes and interact with biology on the scale of cellular organisms? In this talk, I will first introduce the world smallest electrical nanoactuator that bend to the radius of curvature of ~ 500 nm, are fast (< 100 ms operation), and operate in a biological buffer solution. These shape-memory nanoactuators can be used to create a variety of microstructures and micromachines including micro-stages, micro-origami, and morphing metamaterials. Second, I will demonstrate electrically programmable, microscopic metamaterial-based robots that could form 3D shapes from 2D patterns. When we apply a voltage, the robots could morph into a rich class of surfaces with distinct Gaussian curvatures. By applying a phase delay between the different hinge subsets, we could drive the robots to locomote in a biocompatible solution. Last, I will talk about the integrated microrobots with on-board power and control circuit, and their potential applications in fluid pumping, manipulation of micro-objects, etc. Collectively, these new microrobots have great potential for programmable robotic materials, bio-implantable devices, and drug delivery.

This is a virtual colloquium. Please contact phyadmin@syr.edu for the link.