Externally Induced Thermal Actuation of Polymer Nanocomposites

Among the stimuli responsive polymers, thermally active polymers have attracted great attention because of the accessible and effective characteristics of thermal stimulation. Nanomaterials with their unique properties could serve as "nanoantennas'' and "nanoheaters'' for harvesting external energy such as electrical, optical, and magnetic, and then convert them into useful thermal energy. With a uniform mixture of the nanomaterials, an external stimulus which has no impact on the thermally responsive polymers could effectively induce the mechanical actuation of polymer nanocomposites. Hence, the trend article aims to present a brief overview of recent progress on the externally induced thermal actuation of polymer nanocomposites as well as provide a summary of the thermal actuation mechanisms. Examples are introduced to highlight the influence of embedded nanomaterials during the actuation progress.