Soft robotics poised to flourish with advances in electrochemical actuators

Electrochemical actuators are a promising technology for miniature soft robotics. Their low operating voltages and use of biocompatible materials make them particularly suited for biomedical applications. However, these actuators largely remain as prototypes stuck in labs as hurdles remain to transition them into functional microsystems.

Ji Zhang and Sohini Kar-Narayan present a review of electrochemical actuator microfabrication in the hopes of accelerating the technology’s development. Aiming to create a roadmap for newcomers, the perspective delves into various fabrication methods and discusses challenges to integrating and commercializing these actuators.

A key characteristic of electrochemical actuator development, the authors note, is its multidisciplinary nature. Future development and breakthroughs will need a combination of techniques and input across different fields, which will require collaboration and discussion between labs.

“I hope it will inspire researchers from various disciplines — engineers, roboticists, surgeons, biologists, and materials scientists — to bring their own expertise and join us in pushing the technology forward,” said author Ji Zhang.

In the review, the authors also explain that artificial intelligence is likely to accelerate modeling, materials research, and development of electrochemical actuators, which positions the technology to make huge jumps towards clinical use in the next decade. In the future, electrochemical actuators could be used in microcatheters to enable faster and more automated navigation through intricate blood vessels, helping clinicians reach blocked sites more effectively and address cardiovascular disease.

“In the next decade, I foresee electrochemical actuator-steered microcatheters and cell manipulators moving out of journals and into start-up companies and clinical settings,” Zhang said. “This technology will help save more lives.”

Source: “Microfabrication challenges and strategies for electrochemical actuators in miniature soft robotics for biomedical applications,” by Ji Zhang and Sohini Kar-Narayan, APL Electronic Devices (2026). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0320617 .