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Journal of Biomedical Research | Volume 29
October 22-23, 2018 | Frankfurt, Germany
International Conference on
Robo t i c s a n d A u t oma t i o n
B iomater ial s and Nanomater ial s
Joint Event
&
T
he ability to control the shape of micrometric objects by
means of light is an appealing opportunity to develop
robotic devices on such length scale. In this field, we recently
demonstrated how it is possible to fabricate Liquid Crystalline
Elastomeric microstructures with nanometric resolution and
to control their shape by light irradiation. LCEs, materials well
known as artificial muscles, are able to perform different
reversible deformations due to a liquid crystalline alignment
variation in response to an external stimulus. Among the
different synthetic strategies, photopolymerization of acrylate
based mesogens enables to structure this material on the
microscale by the use of Direct Laser Writing (DLW). This
methodology has been applied to develop the first example
of light driven microrobots: a two-step procedure allowed to
fabricate a microwalker able to walk, crawl and jump under
light irradiation or a microgripper able to catch a microparticle.
This communication will show comprehensively our results,
focusing on the design of liquid crystalline photoresists suitable
for DLW and their patterning in the microscale, demonstrating
how, starting from simple mesogenic monomers, it is possible
to create polymeric microrobots with different abilities.
Acknowledgment:
The research leading to these results has
received funding from Laserlab-Europe EU-H2020 654148 and
Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze (2015/0781).
Speaker Biography
Parmeggiani C has completed her PhD in Chemical Science at the age of 29 years from
University of Florence with Prof. A. Goti and she was recently awarded as researcher at
the Chemistry Department of the University of Florence. Since 2010 she is associate at
the European Laboratory for Non Linear- Spectroscopy and at the National Institute of
Optics (CNR). In 2016 she was awarded with the “Organic Chemistry for environment,
energy and nanosciences” prize from the Organic Chemistry Division of the SCI and
she was a finalists of the European Young Chemist Award. She authored 37 papers,
1 book and 3 patents (h-index 16), on smart materials, stereoselective synthesis of
iminosugars and new green oxidation methods that have been cited over 1150 times.
e:
Camilla.parmeggiani@lens.unifi.itParmeggiani C
University of Florence and LENS, Italy
Light-fueled microrobots: The winning combination of liquid crystalline elastomers
and photolithography
Parmeggiani C
, Robotics & Biomaterials 2018, Volume 29
DOI: 10.4066/biomedicalresearch-C6-015