能够弯曲、翻转和移动的花粉纸

能够弯曲、翻转和移动的花粉纸
 

Scientists at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) have created a paper-like material derived from pollen that bends and curls in response to changing levels of environmental humidity.

新加坡南洋理工大学的科学家发明了一种类似纸的材料，这种材料由花粉制成，花粉会随着环境湿度的变化而弯曲。

The ability of this paper made from pollen to alter its mechanical characteristics in response to external stimuli may make it useful in a wide range of applications, including soft robots, sensors, artificial muscles, and electric generators.

这种由花粉制成的纸能够根据外部刺激改变其机械特性，这种能力可能使它在广泛的应用中有用，包括软机器人、传感器、人造肌肉和发电机。

Combined with digital printing, pollen paper may hold promise for the fabrication of a new generation of programmable natural actuators -- components in a machine that are responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism.

结合数字印刷，花粉纸可能有希望制造新一代的可编程自然驱动器---- 机器中负责移动和控制机制的组件。

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week, show how the NTU Singapore team formulated the paper using softened pollen grains.

这项研究结果发表在本周的《美国国家科学院院刊》(Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences)杂志上，展示了南洋理工大学新加坡研究小组是如何使用软化的花粉颗粒来制定论文的。

They demonstrated the pollen-based paper's properties by folding it into a flower that 'blooms' in the presence of water vapour. They also showed that the pollen material's physical properties can be adjusted, with a strip of pollen-based paper that is able to 'walk'.

他们将这种以花粉为基础的纸折叠成一朵在水蒸气存在的情况下“盛开”的花，从而证明了这种纸的特性。他们还发现，花粉物质的物理性质可以通过一张能“行走”的纸条来调整。

The corresponding authors of this paper are Assistant Professor Song Juha of the School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, and Professor Cho Nam-Joon and Professor Subra Suresh of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at NTU.

本文的通讯作者是生物医学工程的助理教授 Song Juha，南洋理工大学材料科学与工程学院的 Cho Nam-Joon 教授和 Subra Suresh 教授。

NTU Distinguished University Professor Subra Suresh, who is also the NTU President, said: "Much progress has been made in developing bioinspired sensors and actuators based on engineered synthetic materials, but these materials come with limitations such as issues with environmental sustainability and relatively high cost. There remains a critical need to incorporate cost-effective and eco-friendly materials. Just as pine cones open and close their scales depending on the amount of moisture in the air, our NTU research team has shown that pollen paper created from naturally abundant pollen grains responds as an actuator to changes in environmental humidity."

南洋理工大学杰出大学教授兼校长苏布拉 · 苏雷什说: “基于人工合成材料的生物传感器和执行器的开发已经取得了很大进展，但是这些材料存在一些局限性，比如环境可持续性问题和相对较高的成本。 仍然迫切需要纳入具有成本效益和环保的材料。 正如松果根据空气中水分的多少来打开和关闭它们的鳞片一样，我们的南洋理工大学研究小组已经证明，由自然界丰富的花粉颗粒创造的花粉纸可以作为环境湿度变化的驱动器。”

NTU Professor Cho Nam-Joon, who holds the Materials Research Society of Singapore Chair in Materials Science and Engineering, said: "These findings build on the recent work by our NTU team, in which we showed how hard pollen grains can be converted into soft microgel particles that alter their properties in response to external stimuli. This process also renders pollen and the products we create from it, non-allergenic."

南洋理工大学的 Cho Nam-Joon 教授是新加坡材料科学与工程教授，他说: “这些发现建立在我们南洋理工大学团队最近的工作之上，我们展示了硬花粉颗粒是如何转化成软微凝胶颗粒的，这些微凝胶颗粒可以根据外部刺激改变它们的性质。 这个过程也使花粉和我们从中制造的产品不会引起过敏。”