Researchers at the the Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore, Maryland have developed chemically triggered microgrippers. The grippers consist of 6 tiny fingers shaped like a hand about 1/8th of a mm, or about the diameter of a grain of sand in size.
The hands are made of various metals acting in conjunction with a polymer and can be triggered to open and close using chemicals. In a demonstration the gripper was able to pick up and release tiny tubes and beads with diameters around 200 μm.
In their article
, the researchers state that the micro-grippers are an important step toward the development of functional Micro Chemo-Mechanical Systems (MCMS), which are actuated by chemistry as opposed to Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems or MEMS, actuated by electricity.