Electrically responsive ionic soft actuators using cellulose nanofibers doped with graphene nanosheets

Soft actuators based on cellulose with highly electro-responsive properties have attracted significant attention in the fields of wearable devices, medical and healthcare devices, soft robots, and human-computer interactions. However, existing cellulose-based soft actuators still need to be improved in terms of actuation displacement, bending strain, and driving frequency. Herein, we report a highly responsive ionic actuator using carboxylated cellulose nanofibers from wood pulp (CNFp), graphene nanosheets (GN), and ionic liquids (IL). The CNFp-IL-GN actuator exhibited a large specific capacitance of 749.11 mF/cm 2 under a 25 mV/s scan rate, a large mechanical displacement (25 mm peak-to-peak) under 2.0 V at 0.1 Hz, a broad actuation frequency (0.1 to 10 Hz), and long working stability. Furthermore, bioinspired applications, including bionic dragonflies and artificial soft-touch fingers, have been demonstrated. These results demonstrate that the proposed actuator is a significant method for advancing soft actuators, artificial muscles, and bioinspired robots.