Abstract
We report a pitch-tuned coiled polymer actuator (CPA) with a compliant silver-nanowires (AgNWs) electrode. For a pitch-tuning of the CPA, we sequentially implement a twist-insertion for coiling a nylon-6 fiber, mechanical pre-stretching, and a couple of thermal treatments. When heated under a light-loading, the pitch-tuned CPA can produce a contractile strain far beyond the original one with a limited space to contract. Since the silver-nanowires electrode established on the coiled structure retains a fairly consistent electrical property allowing repetitive Joule-heating under a large uniaxial elongation with loading, the synergetic benefits from pitch-tuning and adopting the AgNWs as a Joule-heating electrode enables the CPA to produce electrically-controllable and large contractile strain under a light-loading that can be utilized for an artificial muscle of soft micro-robot.
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Dongbum Pyo Post Doctoral Researcher in Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. His research interests are artificial muscle and haptic devices.
Jeong-Mook Lim Principal Research Scientist in Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. His research interests are interaction devices and technique for smart information devices.
Seongcheol Mun Senior Research Scientist in Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. His research interests are functional nanocomposite and flexible wearable devices.
Sungryul Yun Sungryul Yun–Senior Research Scientist in Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. His research interests are artificial muscle and electro-active polymer based flexible functional devices.
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Pyo, D., Lim, JM., Mun, S. et al. Silver-Nanowires Coated Pitch-Tuned Coiled Polymer Actuator for Large Contractile Strain under Light-Loading. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 19, 1895–1900 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-018-0217-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-018-0217-6