Optically triggered actuation in chitosan/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites

Bio-compatible actuators which can work under optical stimulus have great future in bio-medical applications. In this work, chitosan/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposite optical actuators were developed through a simple solvent casting technique. The photomechanical actuation of the composites is demonstrated under IR illumination. All samples exhibited contraction in length when exposed to IR light. The photomechanical stress and strain were found to increase with increasing RGO concentration. Photomechanical stress as high as 695 kPa was achieved with 4 wt.% RGO loading. Contrary to some other reported systems, the photomechanical stress decreased with the applied pre-strain. The actuation behaviour can be tuned either by altering the RGO content or applied pre-strain.