An arm-like electrothermal actuator based on superaligned carbon nanotube/polymer composites

ZHOU Zhi-wei; YAN Qin-hua; LIU Chang-hong; FAN Shou-shan

doi:10.1016/S1872-5805(17)60132-X

Volume 32 Issue 5

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ZHOU Zhi-wei, YAN Qin-hua, LIU Chang-hong, FAN Shou-shan. An arm-like electrothermal actuator based on superaligned carbon nanotube/polymer composites. New Carbon Mater., 2017, 32(5): 411-418. doi: 10.1016/S1872-5805(17)60132-X

Citation:

ZHOU Zhi-wei, YAN Qin-hua, LIU Chang-hong, FAN Shou-shan. An arm-like electrothermal actuator based on superaligned carbon nanotube/polymer composites. New Carbon Mater., 2017, 32(5): 411-418. doi: 10.1016/S1872-5805(17)60132-X

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An arm-like electrothermal actuator based on superaligned carbon nanotube/polymer composites

doi: 10.1016/S1872-5805(17)60132-X

1.
Tsinghua-Foxconn Nanotechnology Research Center and Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
2.
School of Materials Science & Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Funds: National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB932301); Natural Science Foundation of China (51572146)

Received Date: 2017-06-28
Accepted Date: 2017-11-13
Rev Recd Date: 2017-10-09
Publish Date: 2017-10-28

Abstract

Abstract

A superaligned carbon nanotube film embedded in polymers shows promising applications in the fields of electrothermal actuation because of their homogenous conductivity, good biocompatibility and mechanical properties. We fabricated a simple U-shaped gadget from the composite to investigate the electrothermal actuation mechanism. The gadget can curl to 730°, which is several times larger than existing actuators. A helix-shaped arm-like actuator (artificial arm) was also made from the composite, which exhibited a large twisting deformation (more than 700° twisting, 49.2% length constriction and 26.4% diameter constriction) when driven with low electrical fields (less than 500 V/m or 41 V). The actuation of the U-shaped gadget and the artificial arm can be precisely controlled by the applied voltage or electrical power. The gripping force of the clenched arm is about 4 g, 26 times its own weight. This points to a new way for manipulating objects and its potential application in the biomimetic field.
- Composite materials,
- Electrothermal,
- Twisting,
- Actuator,
- Application

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References(34)

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