Bionic MXene actuator with multiresponsive modes

Recently, inspired by natural biological motor behavior, various actuators emerge at the historic moment. Actuator is a kind of device that converts input energy into mechanical motion, and the input energy can be triggered by various stimuli such as heat, light, and electric fields. However, present actuators usually are driven by a single stimulus, often showing poor performance with high power consumption. Here, a MXene and Low-Density Polyethylene based actuator with multiresponsive functions was fabricated via a facile drop-casting method. The electrically driven actuator shows a large offset distance (20 mm), with a low driving voltage of 1.5 V. The heat driven actuator can sense temperature gradient and capture object in the same way that flytraps do. Especially, finite element analysis was used to successfully verify the working mechanism. The light driven actuator is able to perform like a walking robot with a speed up to 16.52 mm min−1. It can perform as a light-controlled (or heat-controlled) switch and be integrated into a circuit being applied to some extreme occasions that require non-contact switches, for example, the current need for non-contact scenarios with COVID-19. This work also provides a new paradigm for expanding MXene applications.