Air plastron-enabled heat management for enhanced photothermal actuation in underwater soft robots.

Pengju Shi, Chi Chen, Zhuo Wang, Wen Hong, Sidi Duan, Zixiao Liu, Wenhao Hou, Muqing Si, Chuan Wei Zhang, Ximin He

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

5citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

Photothermal Superhydrophobic Textiles: An Emerging Paradigm from Passive Water Repellency to Active Thermal Management.Nano-micro letters · 2026
Review
Transparency-Photothermal Efficiency Coordinated Dual-Invisible Soft Robots.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026
Article
Full-Spectrum-Activated Confining Aerogel With Dual-Scale Photothermal Regulation for Ultra-Efficient Low-Temperature Water Purification.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026
Article
Twirlbot: Tumbleweed-inspired rolling robot.Science advances · 2026
Article
Moiré superlattice-driven bionic hydrogel robot with programmable multifunctionality.Nature communications · 2026
Article

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Pengju ShiDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2375-5898

Chi ChenDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0009-0006-7466-7870

Zhuo WangDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Wen HongDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7776-1030

Sidi DuanDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0009-0002-5128-1335

Zixiao LiuDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1161-1803

Wenhao HouDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0009-0007-8374-8696

Muqing SiDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8361-1215

Chuan Wei ZhangDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0009-0004-2261-0237

Ximin HeDepartment of Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8845-4637

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Photothermal self-excited actuators, offering untethered power and control, are promising for autonomous soft robots. While most efforts focus on enhancing heat absorption for greater actuation performance, managing heat dissipation remains underexplored, which becomes critical in underwater environments with rapid convective cooling. Inspired by amphibious mammals that use air plastrons for thermal insulation, we develop a strategy incorporating superhydrophobic candle soot coating to trap air on photothermal liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) actuators. This approach substantially improves thermal insulation underwater, enhances internal temperature gradient, and causes a 282-fold increase in calculated work output. Moreover, we reveal a previously unreported self-oscillation mechanism based on total internal reflection enabled by air plastron, which decouples the locomotion direction from the light incidence direction. Leveraging the enhanced output and maneuverability, we demonstrate LCE-based robots capable of self-continuous locomotion underwater and on water surfaces, powered by overhead or horizontal light, paving the way for next-generation untethered high-performance aquatic soft robots.

Identifiers

PMID40815658

DOI10.1126/sciadv.adx7189

PMCPMC12356254

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LicenceCC BY-NC

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.