In ancient Greek mythology, Icarus' wax wings melted when he dared to fly too close to the sun. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces have made artificial wings that are actually powered by the sun. The tiny wings, which can flap even faster than those of butterflies, could someday be used in robots or devices for solar energy harvesting, the researchers say. Watch a video of the flapping wings in action here.

Light-driven actuators - devices that convert light directly into mechanical work - have attracted attention because they are wireless and easy to control. However, to keep going, they usually require a high-intensity light source that can be turned on and off, or additional hardware.

Ningyi Yuan, Jianning Ding and colleagues wanted to develop a flexible film that could convert natural sunlight into a flapping motion, without the need for additional hardware.

To make their device, which they called a flexible bio-butterfly-wing (FBBW), the researchers coated a thin polymer sheet with a nanocrystalline metallic film. When the team fixed one end of the FBBW strip to a support and shone simulated sunlight onto it, the temperature of the strip increased, and the free end curled up because of the large difference in thermal expansion between the metal and polymer layers.

Then, the curved part of the FBBW shaded the metallic layer below, causing the temperature to drop and the strip to unfold.

Continuous cycles of bending and unfolding produced a flapping motion that could exceed the frequency of actual butterfly wings. The team demonstrated the FBBW in a light-driven whirligig and sailboat, and in a device that converted sunlight into an electric current. It could someday be used in flying animal robots, among other applications, the researchers say.

Related Links
American Chemical Society
All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Corning and Energy Materials Corporation Sign Joint Development Agreement
Rochester NY (SPX) Feb 21, 2020
Energy Materials Corporation (EMC) has signe a joint development agreement (JDA) with Corning Incorporated. Working together, the companies are focused on bringing low-cost, high-performance perovskite solar photovoltaic panels and products to the energy industry. The JDA focuses both companies' respective industry leading capabilities using Corning's flexible Willow Glass as the printing substrate in EMC's proprietary (patents pending) printing process. Dr. Stephan DeLuca, EMC's CEO, said, ... read more