Actuator, sensor and MEMS devices based on regenerated cellulose

摘要

In our early work, cellulose has been discovered as a smart material that can be used as sensors, actuators and smart devices. This newly discovered material is described as electro-active paper (EAPap) and has many advantageous properties: lightweight, flexible, dryness, biodegradable, easy to chemically modify, cheapness and abundance. The actuation principle of cellulose EAPap is based on a combination of piezoelectric and ion-migration effect. This paper reports the fabrication of various micro-patterns and structures, such as rectifying antenna and inter-digital transducer on regenerated cellulose film by adopting a micro-transfer printing technique. Fabrication steps are briefly discussed herein and performance of the actuators was evaluated by means of a tip displacement test. Further, potential application of cellulose as humidity sensor was demonstrated by measuring the impedance change on the inter-digital transducer on cellulose film at different humidity levels.