Electrochemically Powered, Energy‐Conserving Carbon Nanotube Artificial Muscles
Abstract
While artificial muscle yarns and fibers are potentially important for many applications, the combination of large strokes, high gravimetric work capacities, short cycle times, and high efficiencies are not realized for these fibers. This paper demonstrates here electrochemically powered carbon nanotube yarn muscles that provide tensile contraction as high as 16.5%, which is 12.7 times higher than previously obtained. These electrochemical muscles can deliver a contractile energy conversion efficiency of 5.4%, which is 4.1 times higher than reported for any organic‐material‐based artificial muscle. All‐solid‐state parallel muscles and braided muscles, which do not require a liquid electrolyte, provide tensile contractions of 11.6% and 5%, respectively. These artificial muscles might eventually be deployed for a host of applications, from robotics to perhaps even implantable medical devices.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jun 19, 2017
- Source ID
- 10.1002/adma.201700870
Entities
People
- Carter S Haines
- Jae Ah Lee
- Keon Jung Kim
- Na Li
- Raquel Ovalle‐robles
- Ray H. Baughman
- Seon Jeong Kim
- Xavier Lepró
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Hanyang University
- Robert A. Welch Foundation
- United States Air Force
- University of Texas at Dallas