Soft robots could suck up oil spills
A new floating, robotic film could be trained to clean oil spills at sea and remove contaminants from drinking water.
Powered by light and fuelled by water, researchers from University of California, Riverside, US, say the film could be used to clean remote areas where recharging by other means would prove difficult.
“Our motivation was to make soft robots sustainable and able to adapt on their own to changes in the environment. If sunlight is used for power, this machine is sustainable, and won’t require additional energy sources,” said UCR chemist Zhiwei Li. “The film is also reusable.”
Researchers dubbed the film Neusbot after neustons, a category of animals that includes water striders. These insects move across the surface of lakes and slow-moving streams with a pulsing motion, much like scientists have been able to achieve with the Neusbot, which can move on any body of water.
“Normally, people send ships to the scene of an oil spill to clean by hand. Neusbot could do this work like a robot vacuum, but on the water’s surface."
While other scientists have created films which bend in response to light, they have not been able to generate the adjustable, mechanical oscillation Neusbot is capable of. This type of motion is key to controlling the robot and getting it to function where and when you want.
The team behind Neusbot took inspiration from steam engines. Just as steam from boiling water powered the motion of early trains, a similar principle powers Neusbot, except with light as the power source.
The middle layer of the film is porous, holding water as well as iron oxide and copper nanorods. The nanorods convert light energy into heat, vaporising the water and powering pulsed motion across the water’s surface.