Smart actuators have a wide range of applications in bionics and energy conversion. The ability to reconfigure shape is essential for soft actuators to achieve various shapes and deformations, which is a crucial feature for next-generation actuators. Nonetheless, it is still an enormous challenge to establish a straightforward approach to creating programmable and reconfigurable actuators. MXene-cellulose nanofiber composite film (MCCF) with a brick-and-mortar hierarchical structure was produced through a vacuum filtration process. MCCF demonstrates impressive mechanical properties such as a tensile stress of 68 MPa and a Young’s modulus of 4.65 GPa. Besides, the MCCF highlights its potential for water-assisted shaping/welding due to the abundance of hydrogen bonds between MXene and cellulose nanofibers. MCCF also showcases capabilities as a humidity-driven actuator with a rapid response rate of 550 °·s⁻¹. Using the methods of water-assisted shaping/welding, several bionic actuators (such as flower, butterfly, and muscle) based on MCCF were designed, highlighting their versatility in applications of smart actuators. The research showcases the impressive capabilities of MXene-based actuators and offers beneficial insights for the advancement of future intelligent materials.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have emerged as promising candidates for integrating with flexible electronics as self-powered systems owing to their intrinsic flexibility, biocompatibility, and miniaturization. In this study, an improved flexible TENG with a tile-nanostructured MXene/polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) composite electrode (MP-TENG) is proposed for use in wireless human health monitor. The multifunctional tile-nanostructured MXene/PMMA film, which is self-assembled through vacuum filtration, exhibits good conductivity, excellent charge capacity, and high flexibility. Thus, the MXene/PMMA composite electrode can simultaneously function as a charge-generating, charge-trapping, and charge-collecting layer. Furthermore, the charge-trapping capacity of a tile nanostructure can be optimized on the basis of the PMMA concentration. At a mass fraction of 4% PMMA, the MP-TENG achieves the optimal output performance, with an output voltage of 37.8 V, an output current of 1.8 μA, and transferred charge of 14.1 nC. The output power is enhanced over twofold compared with the pure MXene-based TENG. Moreover, the MP-TENG has sufficient power capacity and durability to power small electronic devices. Finally, a wireless human motion monitor based on the MP-TENG is utilized to detect physiological signals in various kinematic motions. Consequently, the proposed performance-enhanced MP-TENG proves a considerable potential for use in health monitoring, telemedicine, and self-powered systems.