Hierarchically Arranged Helical Fiber Actuators Derived from Commercial Cloth.

Authors :: Gong J
Lin H
Dunlop JWC
Yuan J
Source :: Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) [Adv Mater] 2017 Apr; Vol. 29 (16). Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 Feb 20.
Publication Year :: 2017
Abstract: The first hygroscopically tunable cloth actuator is realized via impregnation of a commercial cloth template by a three dimensionally (3D) nanoporous polymer/carbon nanotube hybrid network. The nanoporous hybrid guarantees diffusion of water into the cloth actuator and amplifies the deformation scale. The cloth actuators are mechanically stable with high tensile strength. Because the commercial cotton cloth is inexpensive, such actuators capable of complex motions can be produced in a large size and scale for a wide variety of utilities (e.g. electric generators and "smart" materials).<br /> (© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)