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Li Zhang

Li Zhang is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering and a Professor by Courtesy in the Department of Surgery at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He is also a director of the CUHK–SIAT Joint Laboratory of Robotics and Intelligent Systems. Dr. Zhang is elected as a Fellow of IEEE (FIEEE), Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (FAAIA), a member of the Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences (YASHK), and an Outstanding Fellow of the Faculty of Engineering at CUHK, and he was appointed as a Distinguished Lecturer by IEEE NTC in 2020 and 2021. Dr. Zhang’s main research interests include small-scale robotics and their applications for translational biomedicine. He has authored or co-authored over 300 publications, including Science Robotics and Nature Machine Intelligence. His research work on artificial bacterial flagella was indexed by the Guinness Book of World Records 2012 for the “Most Advanced Mini Robot for Medical Use.” And his research work on magnetic slime robot at CUHK was selected as “Top 10 Innovation and Technology News in Hong Kong in 2022”. Dr. Zhang has won several awards from IEEE international conferences. He currently serves as Editor/Associate Editor/Editorial Board Member of ten international journals, including IEEE TRO (a top journal of Robotics), IEEE/ASME T-MECH, IEEE T-ASE, IEEE T-MRB, Advanced Intelligent Systems (Wiley), Biomicrofluidics (AIP), Research (SPJ-AAAS), IJEM (IOP), and Med-X (Springer). 



Exploiting ferrofluidic wetting for miniature soft machines

Li Zhang1,2,3

1. Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong SAR, China

2. Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin NT, Hong Kong SAR, China

3. Multi-scale Medical Robotics Center (MRC), InnoHK, Hong Kong Science Park

E-mail : lizhang@cuhk.edu.hk

Website : http://microbot.mae.cuhk.edu.hk

Abstract

Miniature magnetic soft machines could significantly impact minimally invasive robotics and biomedical applications [1-5]. However, most soft machines are limited to solid magnetic materials, whereas further progress also relies on fluidic constructs obtained by reconfiguring liquid magnetic materials, such as ferrofluid. Here we show how harnessing the wettability of ferrofluids allows for controlled reconfigurability and the ability to create versatile soft machines. The ferrofluid droplet exhibits multimodal motions, and a single droplet can be controlled to split into multiple sub-droplets and then re-fuse back on demand. The soft droplet machine can negotiate changing terrains in unstructured environments. In addition, the ferrofluid droplets can be configured as a liquid capsule, enabling cargo delivery; a wireless omnidirectional liquid cilia matrix capable of pumping biofluids; and a wireless liquid skin, allowing multiple types of miniature soft machine construction. This work improves small magnetic soft machines’ achievable complexity and boosts their future biomedical applications capabilities.

References

[1] L. Zhang, J.C. Zhang, N. Xia, Y. Dong. Untethered Miniature Soft Robots: Materials, Fabrications, and Applications, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN: 978-352-73-5177-0, 2023.

[2] M. M. Sun, B. Hao, S. H. Yang, X. Wang, C. Majidi*, L. Zhang*, Exploiting ferrofluidic wetting for miniature soft machines, Nature Communications, Vol. 13, 7919, 2022.

[3] Y. Dong, L. Wang, N. Xia, Z. X. Yang, C. Zhang, C. F. Pan, D. D. Jin, J. C. Zhang, C. Majidi*, L. Zhang*, Untethered small-scale magnetic soft robot with programmable magnetization and integrated multifunctional modules, Science Advances, Vol. 8, Issue 25, eabn8932, 2022.

[4] M. M. Sun, C. Y. Tian, L. Y. Mao, X. H. Meng, X. J. Shen, B. Hao, X. Wang, H. Xie*, L. Zhang*, Reconfigurable Magnetic Slime Robot: Deformation, Adaptability, and Multifunction, Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 32, Issue 26, 2112508, 2022.

[5] D. D. Jin, L. Zhang*, Collective Behaviors of Magnetic Active Matter: Recent Progress toward Reconfigurable, Adaptive, and Multifunctional Swarming Micro/Nanorobots, Accounts of Chemical Research, Vol. 55, Issue 1, 98-109, 2022.