https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220208085019.htm

This is where "soft" robots have the upper hand. Made of materials called "elastomers" (materials with high viscosity and elasticity), soft robots absorb shocks better, can adapt better to their environments, and are safer compared to conventional robots. This has allowed for a broad range of applications, including medicine and surgery, manipulation, and wearable technology. However, many of these soft robots rely on fluidic systems, which still use pumps operated by mechanical parts (motors and bearings). As a result, they are still heavy and noisy.

One way around this problem is to use chemical reactions to drive pumps. But while such systems are definitely lightweight and quiet, they don't perform as well as conventional pumps. Is there a way to beat this trade-off? Turns out, the answer is yes. A team of researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT), Japan, led by Prof. Shingo Maeda, introduced an "electrohydrodynamic" (EHD) pump that uses electrochemical reactions to drive pumps. The EHD pumps have all the advantages of pumps driven by chemical reactions and none of their issues.