A biomorphic origami actuator fabricated by folding a conducting paper

Abstract

Cooperation between the electrical conductivity and hygroscopic nature of conducting polymers can provide an insight into the development of a new class of electro-active polymer (EAP) actuators or soft robots working in ambient air. In this paper, we describe an 'origami' actuator fabricated by folding a sheet of conducting 'paper'. The principle lies in the electrically induced changes in the elastic modulus of a humidosensitive conducting polymer film through reversible sorption and desorption of water vapor molecules, which is responsible for amplifying a contraction of the film (∼ 1%) to more than a 100-fold expansion (> 100%) of the origami actuator. Utilizing the origami technique, we have fabricated a biomorphic origami robot by folding an electrochemically synthesized polypyrrole film into the figure of an accordion shape, which can move with a caterpillar-like motion by repeated expansion and contraction at a velocity of 2 cm min-1.