聚義堂小編（微信號：pu138com）微信，隨手掌握聚氨酯動態(tài)，把握未來!
由蠟和聚氨酯泡沫制備的相變材料可能使機器人從固態(tài)向濕軟狀態(tài)轉(zhuǎn)變，并且又可以恢復(fù)到固態(tài)。
這種材料由MIT和Stony Brook University開發(fā)，期望未來機器人能實現(xiàn)軟硬狀態(tài)的互相轉(zhuǎn)變，這種特點的機器人在外科手術(shù)中將大有作為，比如軟機器人在進行手術(shù)時，將不會破壞組織和血管。軟硬互變材料的機器人，由于其可壓縮性、靈活性和柔韌性，或許可以用于一些救災(zāi)中，制備這種機器人最初的想法是來自軟體動物章魚。
圖片來源MIT
研究人員將PU泡沫材料浸泡在熱蠟油中使蠟油滲透完全充滿泡沫材料中即可獲得類似性質(zhì)的材料，詳情請閱讀文獻：
Thermally Tunable, Self-Healing Composites for Soft Robotic Applications(Macromolecular Materials and Engineering，DOI: 10.1002/mame.201400017)
摘要：The field of soft robotics has inspired recent mechanical engineering and materials science innovations to enable shape-shifting systems to be developed. This paper presents the design and analysis of a novel thermally tunable composite, namely, a flexible open-cell foam coated in wax that can achieve significant ranges of stiffness, strength, and volume. Experimental results were compared to a proposed model for predicting the bulk compression modulus of the composites. Additionally, preliminary studies indicate that the composites exhibit self-healing properties, in which heating between loading cycles can mend wax that has been plastically deformed, for example, by cracking or delaminating from the foam.
作者：Nadia G. Cheng1,?,*, Arvind Gopinath2, Lifeng Wang3, Karl Iagnemma1 andAnette E. Hosoi1
